GOQii’s Vishal Gondal hails the Online Gaming Act 2025 as a long-overdue step

The recent passage of the "Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025" has sent shockwaves through the Indian online gaming industry.

But for Vishal Gondal, the founder and CEO of GOQii, the new legislation is a cause for celebration, not concern. In a recent conversation with The Bridge, Gondal shared his perspective on why the Act is a necessary and long-overdue step that will ultimately benefit the industry and society.

Gondal’s initial reaction to the bill’s passing was one of profound joy and disbelief, a sentiment he attributes to his long-standing advocacy for the regulation or outright banning of real-money games (RMG).

"I think the pace at which it happened [the ban] and the clarity with which the government came up with the regulation was remarkable," he said.

Gondal was particularly heartened that the Act also recognized and sought to develop online social gaming and esports, two sectors that he feels have been unfairly overshadowed by the rapid, and often problematic, rise of RMG.

He argued that the RMG industry has been misleading the public and regulators for years.

"Real money games was not a term used anywhere in the world. It was almost invented in India," said Gondal. "Rest of the world, these games are considered gambling.

"There are clear laws around these. Largely across the world, either these games are totally banned or regulated like the gambling industry," he added.

He criticized the industry's reliance on a Supreme Court judgment from 1867 to classify these as "games of skill," calling it an "extremely weak wicket" to stand on.

"It is 2025, and the case that made this possible [RMG industry to develop] is a Supreme Court judgement of 1867, where somebody said Rummy is a game of skill. So the entire argument that these are games of skill goes back to the 1800s, when the British were ruling us," he said.

The societal impact of RMG, according to Gondal, was the primary catalyst for the government's intervention. He highlighted the devastating consequences, including suicides, immense debt, and the breakdown of families, especially in India’s smaller towns and cities.

He argued that the industry's greed had become insatiable, with prominent movie and sports stars promoting these games, making them appear harmless.

"Imagine alcohol being sold to kids, terming it as fermented juice or selling cigarettes as organic leaves, which are healthy," Gondal explained with an analogy. "First of all, the product is harmful, and it was being presented as something great, and it is esports, and we are going to create world champions.

Addressing the economic arguments often raised by the RMG industry, Gondal offered a different perspective. He clarified the common misconception that the market was a "20,000 crore market," explaining that this figure represented the pot of money, not economic value or GDP creation.

He also refuted the claim that the ban would result in the loss of two lakh jobs, noting a lack of protests from affected employees, which suggests the threat may be overstated.