The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) of the Central Government has sent out the draft Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Rules, 2025. This is a very important step in putting the PROG Act into action. The broad framework is meant to control the whole online gaming world and makes it clear that all types of online money games are not allowed. People who are interested have until October 31 to send in their thoughts and suggestions on the proposed rules.
At first, officials thought about putting out the draft guidelines without talking to anyone, but they did so when the industry asked for a conversation. The most important parts of the law stress a two-pronged approach: encouraging e-sports and online social games while punishing online money-based platforms with harsh legal and financial consequences.
The PROG Rules, 2025 draft has five important points that you should remember:
- The Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) was set up.
The guidelines say that the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) must be set up. It is meant to be a legal corporate body with a lot of power.
Main Job: The OGAI will be the national-level regulator in charge of registering legal online social games and e-sports, keeping a national list of permitted titles, and most importantly, deciding if a game is an illegal online money game.
Prohibition Criteria: Any game that involves betting, staking, or winning money that can be turned into cash will be considered an online money game and will be illegal.
Enforcement Powers: The Authority can cancel or suspend registrations, punish people, and tell banks and other providers to block illegal gaming sites. The OGAI can force a game to stop right away and stop advertising or promoting it if it is found to be an online money game.
- The Regulator’s Structure and Quasi-Judicial Powers
The OGAI will be a strong, semi-judicial group based in the National Capital Region.
Leadership and Composition: An officer from the IT Ministry with at least the rank of Joint Secretary (which is the same as Additional Secretary) will be in charge of the Authority. Three ex-officio Joint Secretary-level members from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the Department of Financial Services will be part of it. Two ex-officio members at the Director level will also be chosen, one of whom will have legal knowledge.
Judicial Authority: The OGAI has quasi-judicial powers, like a Civil Court, which means it can call people in, look at evidence, ask for documents, and make binding orders.
- Required Registration and Resolving User Complaints
All real online games, such e-sports and social games, will have to follow tight rules for registration and compliance.
Required Registration: The OGAI must provide a Certificate of Registration for both e-sports and social games. This certificate is good for up to five years. Without this certificate, you can’t run or advertise a game.
User Protection: Platforms must set up a proper way for users to complain and get their problems fixed. If a user doesn’t like how a platform handled their complaint, they can appeal to a Grievance Appellate Committee and then take the problem to the OGAI, which has to deal with it within 30 days.
- A temporary rule for funds from current users
The draft guidelines have a transitory clause that deals with money that platforms acquired before the PROG Act went into effect.
180-Day Window: A temporary rule lets banks or middlemen give players back money they owe within 180 days of the Act going into effect. During this time, these kinds of reimbursements will not be seen as aiding unlawful money gaming.
- Strict Offenses and Penalties: Clause That Doesn’t Allow Bail
The PROG Act says that violators would face harsh punishments, and the draft rules stress that these punishments will be strictly enforced.
Section 5 (banning offering, helping, or participating in online money games) and Section 7 (banning banks and financial institutions from allowing related transactions) violations are declared cognizable and non-bailable, which means that the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, does not apply. This means that authorized authorities can arrest someone without a warrant, and bail is not a right.
Punishment: If you offer online money gaming services, you could go to jail for up to three years and pay fines of up to ₹1 crore. If you advertise these illegal platforms, you could go to jail for two years and pay fines of up to ₹50 lakh.
Enforcement Powers: Officers who have been given permission can search, seize, and arrest anyone without a warrant. The guidelines also safeguard police from legal action when they do these things.