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Building a new responsible online gaming ecosystem in India
India is pursuing a national framework for online gaming through the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA), balancing opportunities with safeguards. It introduces a three-stage lifecycle to classify games, recognize e-sports, and register offerings. E-sports will fall under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and enforcement will curb illegal offshore operators.
Why It Matters
The framework aims to protect users while enabling lawful innovation, shifting enforcement from reactive to proactive governance and providing predictable pathways for developers and e-sports organizations.
Timeline
6 Events
Registration scope targets individual games; notified categories of online social games require registration
April 29, 2026
Registration applies to individual games from every online game service provider, with registration required for notified categories of online social games and potential oversight where determined or directed by the OGAI.
Enforcement emphasis: proactive governance and blocking of illegal online money gaming
April 29, 2026
Enforcement is strengthened through coordinated blocking, investigations by the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI), and financial disruption measures targeting offshore operators, aiming to curb illegal online money gaming.
Three-stage lifecycle introduced: Determination, Recognition, Registration
April 29, 2026
The framework defines a lifecycle of Determination (entry gate), followed by Recognition (for e-sports) and Registration (for visible offerings), with provisions for mandatory determination before recognition in certain cases.
Final operative shape of PROGA after extensive consultations
April 29, 2026
PROGA has been given its final operative shape after extensive consultations with developers, e-sports organisations, legal experts, technology professionals, and civil society stakeholders.
E-sports recognition guided by the National Sports Governance Act, 2025
2025
Recognition of e-sports is governed under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, requiring organised multiplayer gameplay, predefined rules, and outcomes based on mental agility, dexterity, or strategy, with wagering prohibited.
PROGA introduced as the national framework for online gaming (2025)
2025
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA) was introduced to establish a national framework balancing opportunities in digital gaming with safeguards against online money gaming, involving consultations with developers, e-sports bodies, legal experts, technology professionals, and civil society.