Highlights
- The Indian gaming sector reports ₹7,000 crore in write-downs and over 7K job cuts within 90 days of PROGA’s passage.
- Rapid PROGA approval, followed by notification delays, triggers major impairments across Flutter, Nazara, Delta Corp, and Paytm.
- Revenue losses near ₹10,000 crore, falling UPI transactions, and suspended cash gaming deepen industry-wide disruption.
India’s real-money gaming industry has recorded writedowns of more than ₹7,000 crore and over 7K job losses within 90 days of Parliament passing the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA). The law received presidential assent in Aug. 2025 but remains unnotified, creating regulatory uncertainty for operators.
PROGA moved through Parliament unusually quickly, clearing the Lok Sabha on 20 Aug. 2025, and the Rajya Sabha a day later, before receiving assent in under 96 hours. The lack of a follow-up notification has left the industry without clarity on compliance requirements.
Flutter Entertainment booked a $556M impairment in the Sept. quarter after Junglee Games suspended cash-based rummy, contributing to a $789M net loss compared with $114M a year earlier. Clairvest Group wrote off its ₹760 crore (approximately $84.9M) investment in Head Digital Works, the operator of A23 Rummy.
PROGA's Impact on Online Gaming Firms
Indian companies have reported similar adjustments, along with Nazara Technologies, which recorded an ₹914.7 crore (approximately $103.2M) impairment on Moonshine Technologies, the parent of PokerBaazi.
Meanwhile, Delta Corp wrote down its investments in Deltatech Gaming, Head Digital Works, and OpenPlay Technologies to zero, resulting in a ₹378.3 crore reduction in fair value. (approximately $42.7M). Paytm’s profit declined 98% after booking a ₹190 crore (approximately $21.4M) impairment on a loan to First Games Technology.
Industry estimates show revenue losses of ₹10,000 crore (approximately $1.13B) and nearly ₹5,600 crore (approximately $632M) in combined tax impact across GST, TDS, and income tax. UPI gaming transactions dropped from 351M in Jul. to 270M times in August, signaling declining user activity.
Major platforms, including Dream11, Mobile Premier League, Zupee, WinZO, and Gameskraft, have halted cash-gaming formats. Gameskraft laid off more than 400 employees, reducing its workforce from about 600 to under 100.
The Supreme Court will hear constitutional challenges to PROGA on Nov. 26, a hearing that could determine the sector’s regulatory direction and prospects for recovery.
