Real money gaming ban to be formally notified on Oct. 1: Vaishnaw

Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the online real money gaming (RMG) ban would formally go into force on October 1, barring any pressing requests from the RMG industry that would warrant a further delay. Mr. Vaishnaw was speaking on the sidelines of a pre-event for the AI Impact Summit, to be hosted by India next February. 

The real money gaming ban has already been implemented by the RMG industry at large, even as some have challenged the prohibition in court. The government has not notified the law, passed in the monsoon session of Parliament within 72 hours of the Cabinet clearing it. With firms winding down their business and processing most refunds, the government appears to see a clear path to formalising the prohibition.

“We also engaged with the banks, we engaged with practically every stakeholder possible in this, and we have finalized the rules,” Mr. Vaishnaw said. “The rules will be promulgated with effect from 1st October. And before that, we’ll have one more round of discussions with the industry. And in case they need some more time, we will definitely look at a more conservative approach.”

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also finalised the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, Mr. Vaishnaw said, adding that the rules will be notified by September 28 as an “outer limit”.

The DPDP Rules have been pending since the Digital Personal Data Protection Act was passed in Parliament two years ago. Without the Rules, the Act isn’t in force.

News media representatives have complained to the IT Ministry about a lack of protections for journalists collecting data in the Act. The Ministry assured the representatives in recent months that it would publish FAQs addressing these concerns. Mr. Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the FAQs would be published after the Rules are notified.