IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw meets online gaming industry groups first time after RMG ban

Electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday met representatives from the online gaming industry, the first time after real money games (RMG) were banned last month, government sources said. The meeting focussed on the need to ensure an orderly transition in the sector and the need to protect the money of users, they added.

The government has told the industry that money uploaded by users to online wallets for playing real money games now needs to be carefully stored and returned wherever possible, a source said. The meeting saw the participation of industry groups such as the All India Gaming Federation and the E-gaming Federation of India.

The latest talks come two weeks after the government passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 in Parliament, which shut down real money-based online games owing to rising cases of suicides, addiction, and shifting psychological behaviour due to these games.


Also Read: Online Gaming Bill 2025 protects savings of crores of Indian middle-class families: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The move had shocked the Rs 27,438 crore online real money gaming sector with an estimated 591 million Indian gamers.

While the industry had criticised the move, it has been made clear in Monday's meeting that no leeway would be given to online real money games to operate in any form, sources said.

Last month, Vaishnaw had told ET the legislation was necessitated after the government failed to make the sector understand the harm of real money games to society, and even a self-regulating body had been proposed.

On the other hand, the latest talks also focussed on promoting e-sports and social games. The government has assured full support in developing these categories of online games. "It has been suggested to existing real money gaming platforms that they may pivot to these categories," a source said.

Also Read: ETtech Explainer: What’s the way forward for gaming industry after Lok Sabha clears Online Gaming Bill?