Online Gaming Act 2025 and Yono Games: What Changed in India

Key dates

The Act established the legal categories and prohibitions. The 2026 Rules created the classification, registration, grievance and enforcement procedures used to operate the framework.

What counts as an online money game?

The Act defines an online money game as an online game in which a user pays a fee, deposits money or contributes another stake in expectation of receiving money or another form of enrichment.

The definition applies whether the game is based on skill, chance or a combination of both. This is a significant change for operators that previously relied primarily on the distinction between games of skill and games of chance.

Other stakes can include credits, coins, tokens or similar items purchased with money and capable of functioning as, or being converted into, something of value.

Money games, social games and esports

A social game may charge a genuine subscription or one-time access fee provided the payment is not a wager and does not create an expectation of monetary winnings. Esports receive separate treatment but cannot involve bets or stakes merely because the underlying competition requires skill.

What the Act prohibits

Section 5 prohibits offering, aiding, inducing or otherwise engaging in the offering of an online money game or money-gaming service. Section 6 prohibits advertisements that promote or induce people to play online money games. Section 7 restricts banks, payment providers and other facilitators from processing funds for prohibited services.

The framework also applies to services operated outside India when they are offered within Indian territory. Moving a server or company registration offshore does not automatically create an exemption.

What changed for Yono Games?

The biggest change is that calling a game skill-based is no longer enough to keep a cash contest outside the national definition. If players deposit or stake value in expectation of monetary winnings, the product may qualify as an online money game even when skill affects the result.

Yono products requiring users to add cash or pay an entry stake for expected cash winnings face the clearest conflict. Banks and payment providers are also restricted from facilitating transactions connected with prohibited online money-gaming services.

Advertising creates another major issue. Promotions involving deposit bonuses, welcome cash, referral earnings, guaranteed income or withdrawal claims may fall within the advertising prohibition when they induce users to join a prohibited money game.

Has Yono Games been specifically banned?

No authoritative provider-specific determination naming every Yono-branded service was identified for this collection. That does not establish that an older cash model remains permissible. It means a legal inference should not be described as a published enforcement order.

The Authority can examine a specific game and provider by considering entry fees, stakes, expected winnings, revenue structure and whether rewards can be monetised outside the game. Different products using a shared brand may be classified differently.

Could Yono operate social games?

A Yono-branded platform could potentially offer entertainment-only games that do not involve stakes or expected monetary gain. Free, non-redeemable points may support a social-game model. A fixed subscription may also be possible when it pays only for access rather than functioning as a wager.

Changing the word cash to coins is not sufficient if users still purchase those coins and expect redeemable returns. The actual economic structure matters more than the label.

What existing users should check

Users should confirm the exact operator, domain, app package, payment recipient and updated terms before making a transaction. Old statements claiming that a product is legal because it requires skill may no longer reflect the national framework.

Anyone with an existing balance should retain receipts, statements, screenshots and support correspondence. An additional tax, verification or release payment should not be sent to an unknown personal account merely to unlock a withdrawal.

Frequently asked questions

Legal and financial risk notice

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Online gaming can create financial loss, fraud exposure, addiction and privacy risks. Never deposit money based on promises of guaranteed income or withdrawals, and never share banking passwords, card PINs or OTPs.