By Madhusudan Sahoo
Copyright deccanchronicle
New Delhi: Information and technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday announced that online money gaming law would be implemented from October 1 this year. The minister also said that after multiple discussions with the industry, the government is still engaged with them. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, passed by Parliament last month, bars all forms of online money games while promoting e-sports and other online games.With the passage of the bill in Parliament, several industry players such as Dream11, My11 Circle, WinZO, Zupee, and Nazara Technologies-backed PokerBaazi and other online gaming platforms alike have halted their real-money online gaming offerings. However, sources privy to development said that one of the concerns flagged by the industry is around how to return the money that is still left in user accounts.“The rules will be promulgated with effect from October 1. We have engaged with the industry, we have had multiple discussions with them, and we have been having discussions with them for the last three years. After passing the law, once again, we engaged with them, we also engaged with the banks and practically all stakeholders possible, and we have finalised the rules,” Vaishnaw said during a pre-event conference for the planned AI Impact Summit 2026 India.When asked about any further extension of the implementation of the online money gaming law, the minister said that if the industry needs some more time in this regard, we will definitely look at a more consultative approach, which has been our approach on practically everything we do. “But at this point of time, we are targeting that we start the implementation of new legislation from next month,” he added.
