India is planning to revolutionize the online gaming industry through Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. The bill has cast a spotlight on celebrities who endorsed money-centric gaming platforms, exploding a national debate over the impact of fame.
Online Gaming App Bill will restrict real money betting
The new legislation prohibits all real-money online games with imaginary sports and betting apps, and presents severe penalties: the one who violates can face up to three years in prison and ₹1 crore in fines. Celebrities caught endorsing such platforms face up to 2-years of jail time and ₹50 lakh in fines for first offenses.
Inquiries by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have marked 29 such celebrities, including Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, and influencers for supposedly recommending apps such as Junglee Rummy, JeetWin, Lotus365, and 1xBet, platforms suspect of functioning illegally under Indian law.
Authorities cited difficult statistics to defend the crackdown. GoI sources evaluation around 45 crore Indians lose ₹20,000 crore yearly to real-money gaming.
Online Gaming habit may affects your health
Beyond the monetary toll, mental health experts report a troubling rise in distress calls associated to gambling habit, helplines in Hyderabad saw a 65% rise, with 36.5% of early 2025 calls linked to gambling addiction, linked to 22% in 2023.
Few celebrities, such as Vijay Deverakonda and Prakash Raj, protected themselves, disagreeing their endorsements were limited to “skill based” games and were officially compliant where endorsed.
Online Gaming Bill, 2025 distress micro-influencers
Meanwhile, influencer marketing experts advise that the ban will distress revenues for many creators and inventors, particularly micro-influencers whose regular earnings depend on the publicity and promotion of these online gaming applications.
As the legal and ethical consequences increases, one question emerges: Is instant fame and prosperity worth the potential destruction of reputation, and, more importantly, the damage caused to fans, society, and communities?
Ankur Mishra is a journalist who covers an extensive range of news, from business, stock markets, IPOs to geopolitics, world affairs, international crises, and general news. With over a decade of experience in the business domain, Ankur has been associated with some of the reputed media brands. Through a sharp eye on global marketplaces along with deep insights and analysis of business strategies, Ankur brings simplicity to the complex economic matrix to decode market trends and empower people.
He is committed to entrenched data, facts, research, solutions, and a dedication to value-based journalism. He has covered trade tariff wars, international alliances, corporate policies, government initiatives, regulatory developments, along with micro- and macroeconomic shifts impacting global fiscal dynamics.
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