India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Wednesday notified rules to operationalise the Online Gaming Act, 2025, with the framework set to take effect from May 1.

The government has also constituted the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) under the law to oversee implementation of the new compliance regime for gaming platforms, as per a notification.

The authority will be chaired by an additional secretary at MeitY and include representatives from the ministries of home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice.

OGAI will be responsible for classifying games as online money games, social games or e-sports, and oversee regulation of the sector. It will also have powers to impose penalties, suspend registrations and block operations in cases of non-compliance.

MeitY said online games that do not involve real money or winnings will not be required to register or undergo classification, reflecting what officials described as a light-touch approach to regulation.

A key element of the framework is a “determination” process to assess whether a game qualifies as a real-money offering or falls within categories such as social gaming or e-sports. The process will be triggered only if the authority reviews a game on its own, a company seeks clarity, or the government notifies specific categories for scrutiny.

Real-money games, however, will be subject to stricter scrutiny, with platforms evaluated on factors including entry fees, expected winnings, revenue models and whether in-game assets can be monetised. The authority will have up to 90 days to determine a game’s status.

The rules create a separate category for competitive e-sports, which will require mandatory registration under the Act.

While most gaming companies will not be required to register to continue operations, mandatory registration will apply to certain categories, including games with large user bases, those involving financial transactions or titles deemed high-risk. The country of origin may also be considered in determining whether registration is required.

Banks, payment gateways and other financial institutions will be required to verify registration or classification orders before processing payments for such platforms, and may be directed to suspend transactions linked to prohibited games.

The rules also mandate safeguards such as age verification, parental controls, grievance redressal mechanisms, fair play monitoring and cybersecurity protections. Users will be able to escalate complaints from platforms to the authority and further to the MeitY secretary.

Gaming platforms and intermediaries that facilitate prohibited real-money games could face penalties including imprisonment of up to three years and fines of up to Rs 3 crore under the new rules.

The Act, passed in August 2025, prohibits online real-money gaming and bans advertising for such platforms. The government said it received more than 2,500 stakeholder inputs before finalising the rules.

The overnight ban on online real money games last year had also impacted the venture capital-backed startups such as Dream11, Mobile Premier League (MPL) and Zupee.