India’s apex court to hear RMG ban challenge on 7 October
The Supreme Court of India has scheduled 07 October, 2025, to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. The law, which bans all online games involving stakes, has led to widespread disruption in the real money gaming industry. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Vishwanathan will preside over the matter.
Law under challenge
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, prohibits both skill-based and chance-based games when played for monetary stakes. This has effectively shut down platforms that host fantasy sports, online rummy, poker, and other real money games. Industry players argue that the sweeping ban has crippled their businesses and left thousands of employees without work.
Industry seeks urgent listing
During a brief hearing on Friday, lawyers representing online gaming platforms urged the court to expedite the listing of their petitions. Counsel for one of the companies reminded the bench that Justice Pardiwala had earlier allowed the transfer of related cases from several High Courts to the Supreme Court.
The mentioning for urgent listing was made before Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, who agreed to schedule the petitions. “Our businesses have been shut down. Our petition was before the Karnataka High Court, which has been transferred here at the instance of the Centre. Please list it urgently,” counsel pleaded.
The petitions have been filed by several major companies in the sector. Head Digital Works, parent of the real money gaming platform A23, had earlier approached the Karnataka High Court. Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Pvt. Ltd., a member of the E-Gaming Federation, moved the Delhi High Court. Clubboom 11 Sports and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., linked to the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, filed its challenge in Madhya Pradesh. All these petitions are now before the Supreme Court.
Cases transferred from High Courts
The Centre had previously sought the transfer of all challenges to the new law to the Supreme Court. Officials argued that uniform adjudication was necessary to avoid conflicting judgments from different courts.
On Friday, the bench approved the request and directed that digital records from the Delhi, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh High Courts be sent to the apex court within one week. Justice Pardiwala also clarified that any new petitions challenging the law filed in other courts must be directly transferred to the Supreme Court. “If there are any challenges to the validity of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, the same must not be entertained and must be transferred to the Supreme Court,” the bench stated.
Snigdhaneel Satpathy, Partner at Saraf and Partners, in an exclusive conversation with SiGMA News said the legislation could destabilise an entire industry. “By eliminating the long-standing judicially recognised distinction between games of skill and games of chance, the Bill removes the very foundation upon which much of the RMG industry has operated and grown over the past two decades,” he said. He added that the outright prohibition “risks pushing both players and operators toward offshore unregulated platforms that offer neither accountability nor consumer protection.”
Government’s position
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, supported the consolidation of cases. He pointed out that the same bench had previously considered similar petitions, and hearing them together would allow for a faster resolution.
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