Indian online game operator Head Digital Works (developer of A23 Rummy Online and A23 Poker Online) recently filed a petition with the Karnataka High Court, legally challenging the 2025 "Online Game Promotion and Regulation Act" (PROG Act), becoming the first gaming company to initiate litigation against this act. The court has scheduled a hearing for August 30.
A23 stated in the lawsuit that the act unreasonably categorizes skill-based games (such as poker and rummy) as gambling activities, essentially leading to the criminalization of such businesses. The company criticized the legislation for reflecting a "paternalistic" regulatory mindset, which, if implemented, would force a large number of gambling businesses to shut down and severely impact the operation of legitimate skill-based games.
The PROG Act was passed by the Indian Parliament last week, prohibiting all forms of online real-money gaming, except for legal video games, esports, and subscription-based social games. The government stated that the legislation aims to address the increasingly severe issues of financial fraud and gaming addiction, with an estimated annual loss of about 200 billion rupees (approximately 2.4 billion USD) for over 450 million people through such platforms.
A23's apps have been downloaded over 10 million times, claiming to serve over 60 million players, covering various real-money gaming projects such as rummy and fantasy sports. However, some cybersecurity service providers (such as Fortinet) still categorize its website as gambling.
Currently, other leading operators like Dream11 and MPL have not taken legal action against the act. However, the industry is generally concerned that this ban could lead to over 200,000 job losses and about 400 companies going out of business. This lawsuit concerns not only A23's own operations but is also seen as an important judicial test of the constitutionality and scope of the PROG Act.
It is worth noting that the introduction of this act comes at a time when the Indian online gaming industry is facing broader regulatory pressures. Flutter Entertainment has temporarily suspended its Junglee Games business, while the Supreme Court is still hearing cases related to the GST tax classification of online gaming platforms.
