{"id":777030789,"date":"2025-08-26T07:41:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T10:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030789"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:49:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:49:33","slug":"major-brands-halt-operations-amid-indias-ban-on-real-money-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/major-brands-halt-operations-amid-indias-ban-on-real-money-online-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Major brands halt operations amid India\u2019s ban on real-money online gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Flutter has withdrawn Junglee as local operators also hit by sudden approval of ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

India.- Several operators have confirmed the withdrawal of operations following the approval of a ban on online gambling in India<\/a>. The federal Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025<\/strong> was passed rapidly on Friday (August 22) after being introduced to Parliament on August 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation defines real-money gaming as \u201cany online game \u2013 whether based on skill, chance, or both \u2013 played by a user by paying a fee, depositing money, or other stakes, in the expectation of winning, which entails monetary or other enrichment in return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flutter Entertainment soon announced its decision to withdraw its Junglee Games<\/strong> subsidiary. It criticised the bills short timeframe and a lack of consultation with industry stakeholders. It said Junglee was a social and skill-based gaming platform which met previous legal requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flutter CEO Peter Jackson <\/strong>said: \u201cI am extremely disappointed with the sudden changes to the regulatory landscape in India. Over the last four years, Junglee has invested significantly in its local market, building a workforce of over 1,100 employees to deliver innovative skill-based gaming products to Indian customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Mumbai-based fantasy sports operator Dream11 <\/strong>is reported to have withdrawn its \u20b9358 crore (US$35m) sponsorship of India\u2019s national cricket teams while also closing its real-money gaming products. The company signed a deal as lead sponsor in July 2023, and the cancellation comes just ahead of the T20 Asia Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dream11 has seen off legal challenges in the past by defining its products as skill-based gaming. It wrote on LinkedIn: \u201cWhen we started this journey 18 years ago as a Sports Tech company, we were not even 1 per cent of the size of the USA Fantasy Sports industry. Dream11\u2019s Fantasy Sports product was our way to\u00a0\u2018Make Sports Better\u2019 for all of India<\/strong>. With this passion, belief, and the spirit of Made in India, for India, by Indians, we became the largest fantasy sports platform in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have always been and will always be a law-abiding company, and have conducted our business in compliance with the laws. While we believe that progressive regulations would have been the right way forward, we will respect the law and will fully comply with The Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Law, 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My11Circle, Zupee, Gameskraft<\/strong>, Mobile Premier League (MPL) and Probo are also reported to have shut their real-money gaming operations following Friday\u2019s legislative approval of the ban on online gaming in India. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has carried out raids on properties linked to INC assembly member and Goa casino owner KC Veerendra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation seeks to address public concerns over gambling addiction<\/a>, fraud and inconsistent regulation at the state level.\u00a0Federal IT minister\u00a0Ashwini Vaishnaw<\/strong>, said was “the duty of the government and the parliament to take strict action against social evils, which keep erupting time and again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> India’s upper house passes bill to ban real-money online games<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flutter has withdrawn Junglee as local operators also hit by sudden approval of ban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"India has enacted a swift federal ban on all forms of online real-money gaming, leading to major operators like Flutter Entertainment's Junglee Games and Dream11 withdrawing operations and significant investments. The \"Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025\" broadly defines real-money gaming, impacting both skill and chance-based platforms previously operating under different interpretations. This abrupt regulatory shift, driven by concerns over addiction and fraud, has prompted immediate market disruption and substantial financial repercussions for industry stakeholders.","focusai_entities":"Flutter Entertainment, Junglee Games, Dream11, My11Circle, Zupee, Gameskraft, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Probo, Peter Jackson, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Enforcement Directorate, KC Veerendra, Parliament, INC","focusai_location":"India, Mumbai, Goa","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.9), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Precedent Impact","query":"What are the potential implications of India's broad definition of 'real-money gaming' and rapid legislative action on regulatory frameworks in other emerging iGaming markets, particularly concerning skill-based gaming classifications?"},{"label":"Operator Capital Reallocation","query":"How will major operators like Flutter Entertainment reallocate the capital and human resources previously dedicated to the Indian market, and which alternative growth markets are likely to benefit from this strategic pivot?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,154,16334],"tags":[58,225],"class_list":["post-777030789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-legislation-news","category-south-asia-news","tag-india","tag-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777030789"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030793,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030789\/revisions\/777030793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}