Haryana's new gambling law: An analysis of why there's a need for a calibrated policy on Fantasy Sports Gaming

Time of India

02-05-2025

Nilanjan Banik is a professor at Bennett University's School of Business. His work focuses on the application of time series econometrics in issues relating to international trade, market structure and development economics. He is also interested in the "rules" part of WTO; especially examining non-tariff barriers aspects of GATT/WTO agreements. He has project experience with Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia; Laffer Associates, USA; KPMG, India; Ministry of Commerce, Government of India; Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi; Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi; Center for Economic Policy Research, UK; Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo; Asian Development Bank, Manila; South Asia Network of Economic Research Institutes (SANEI); UNESCAP-ARTNeT, Thailand, Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne; and World Trade Organization, Geneva. LESS ... MORE
The Haryana Prevention of Public Gambling Act (HPPGA), 2025 marks a pivotal shift in the state's legal approach to betting and gaming. In step with the growing momentum around regulating digital activities, the Act aims to criminalise gambling and betting formats where chance predominates. Crucially, it also carves out an exemption for games of skill, a legal distinction that has been reinforced through multiple rulings by High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
This exemption is more than a legal footnote, it is a linchpin for India's fast-evolving digital economy, particularly for sectors like fantasy sports and its innovative formats. By recognising skill-based games as distinct from gambling, the Act acknowledges the growing complexity of online gaming and the need to regulate it with nuance. However, the law stops short of providing detailed guidance on how this distinction will be operationalised especially for new-age innovative gaming formats that blend analytics, real-world sporting data, and gamification.
Fantasy sports platforms such as Probo, Dream11, MPL, SportsBaazi, and My11Circle operate on the foundational legal recognition that they are games of skill, not chance. While gambling results in a uniform distribution, with an equal probability of winning or losing, skill-based activities typically have a higher probability of winning, leading to a left-skewed distribution. In simple terms, the mathematical way to distinguish skill-based activities from gambling is that a skilled player is more likely to achieve a higher payoff than a gambler. The reason gambling is banned in many countries, including India, is due to its association with issues such as addiction, financial losses, fraud, and the loss of life and livelihood. By similar logic, online gaming and trading are allowed in many countries because they facilitate price discovery based on skills of market participants. Markets are created with opportunities to do business. This status has been affirmed through repeated judicial scrutiny, with the Supreme Court categorically distinguishing fantasy sports from gambling. The legality of such platforms has become a cornerstone of their success, unlocking major domestic and global investments and contributing to a burgeoning digital ecosystem.
Yet, despite this judicial clarity, Haryana's new law introduces fresh uncertainty. The Act, while theoretically aligned with national jurisprudence, does not explicitly clarify whether fantasy sports fall under its exemption for skill-based games. In a state like Haryana, home to Gurugram's thriving tech and gaming startups, this omission has created confusion and concern within the industry. Operators are left reading between the lines of legal language, unsure whether their business models are protected or exposed under the new regime.
The issue is compounded by the lack of a formal co-regulatory or licensing mechanism for fantasy sports and its innovative formats. Haryana's new law appears isolated from broader digital policy developments be it compliant, responsible gaming and taxes. This gap has exposed platforms, investors, and gig workers to policy volatility, despite their activities aligning with judicial norms.
The stakes of this ambiguity are far from theoretical. Similar regulatory grey zones in states like Tamil Nadu triggered temporary bans, litigation, and operational paralysis. Even though courts ultimately overturned these restrictions, the damage had already been done where several companies halted regional operations, paused hiring, and rerouted capital expenditure to more policy-stable environments.
Haryana now risks a similar fallout. Gurugram has emerged as a key node in India's digital economy, hosting not only platform operators but also a vast ecosystem of professionals like engineers, designers, analysts, marketing experts, legal advisors, content creators, and customer support personnel. Unclear regulation threatens not just corporate strategy but the livelihoods of thousands of skilled and gig workers embedded in this sector.
The ripple effects extend to investor sentiment. Early-stage and global investors interpret such legal gaps as red flags. A single restrictive notification, or even delayed clarification, could redirect millions in funding and push innovation pipelines to cities or countries with more predictable policy environments, be it Bengaluru, Noida, Dubai, or Singapore.
The absence of regulatory foresight can also undermine India's larger digital ambition. The central government has set a target of building a $1 trillion digital economy by 2027. Reaching that milestone will require policy coherence not only at the Centre but also across states. Haryana's indecision on fantasy sports regulation, if left unaddressed, may erode its ability to contribute meaningfully to this national goal.
Fantasy sports and its innovative formats are not just another entertainment vertical, they represent the convergence of mobile-first consumer behaviour, real-time data analytics, competitive gamification, and digital finance. With over 220 million users in India, the format has grown from a casual pastime to a mainstream digital economy driver by generating significant amount of taxes and thousands of jobs.
Moreover, fantasy sports and its innovative formats have proven resilient and compliant. Operators already function under a de facto code of self-regulation, deploying KYC norms, age verification, deposit caps, and responsible gaming features. Courts have validated this structure as evidence of the industry's good faith.
The sector's economic contributions are equally significant. Fantasy platforms and its innovative formats collectively contribute hundreds of crores in taxes, and their tech-centric operations have catalysed growth in adjacent sectors like analytics, payments, cybersecurity, and content production. Notably, these are high-skilling, future-proof domains where India has global competitive potential.
What's more, the industry also supports a growing gig economy. Freelancers, streamers, influencers, and analysts, many of them young Indians, derive a substantial part of their livelihood from fantasy-related content and engagement. Any policy disruption affects them disproportionately, especially those lacking formal contracts or long-term employment protections.
Haryana's challenge, and opportunity, lies in transforming ambiguity into leadership. The state can begin by issuing an official notification explicitly recognising major fantasy sports and its innovative formats as games of skill, in line with constitutional and judicial precedents. This would eliminate legal doubt while reinforcing investor confidence.
The next step is to build a co-regulatory framework. Such a model, already recommended by national think tanks and adopted in nascent form by other Indian states, would blend public oversight with private sector expertise. It would institutionalise safeguards, enable consumer protection, and provide operators with clear compliance pathways. Most importantly, it would signal to the world that Haryana is serious about supporting responsible digital innovation.
Consultations with stakeholders like industry leaders, legal experts, consumer groups, and technologists must be central to this process. Regulation need not be a barrier to innovation. On the contrary, smart policy design can become a competitive advantage, attracting entrepreneurs, capital, and talent to the state.
Ultimately, the regulatory debate around fantasy sports and its innovative formats in Haryana is about more than just compliance, it is a litmus test for how India's states will govern the industries of the future. With the digital economy becoming a key engine of national growth, states must choose whether to lead, follow, or fall behind.
Fantasy sports may be a game of skill, but crafting progressive, innovation-friendly regulation is the real test of strategy. Haryana has the board, the pieces, and the opportunity. Now it must make the right move.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.