India has clarified that online games marketed as esports must be individually assessed and registered with the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) before they can be offered under that classification, further tightening the country’s regulatory framework for online gaming.
Clarification was provided by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada through a written response to a Lok Sabah query on July 29.
Before introducing a game as an esport, the operator must secure approval from the Online Gaming Authority of India under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 (PRA).
Each game proposed by a provider must be assessed and registered separately, meaning operators cannot receive blanket approval for all their games.
For a game to qualify as an esport, it must be endorsed by the National Sports Governance Act of 2025. The guidelines also differentiate esports from social games. While esports requires assessment for registration, social games do not require such registration automatically.
However, the Online Gaming Authority retains the power to require registration where necessary, while the central government can also designate specific categories of social games that must be reviewed.
India’s online gaming legislation received presidential approval in August 2025, while the accompanying regulations came into force on 1 May 2026.
