Game Over

Parliament’s approval to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, marks an important regulatory intervention in the online gaming space. The law seeks to encourage online sport, while actively discouraging betting and gambling in the form of online ‘sport’. The choice before the government was between the interests of a particular business section and society at large. This was not something that the govern­ment took lightly. The money and business generated by these games is considerable and by some accounts, an important eco­nomic sector. But the larger issue was who bears the social costs from such activities?

By some estimates, some 45 crore individu­als use gaming apps and approximately ₹20,000 crore are lost by users every year. For a low per capita income country like India, these are large sums. It is tough to assess the socio-economic profile of the users. But a substantial fraction is likely to belong to the economically challenged sections of Indian society. Much like drinking, these ‘sports’ have also turned into a potent source of financial ruin for a large number of families. These concerns have been highlighted in the Statement of Objects and Reasons for the Bill.

The Act does not mention gambling as that is an area that falls in the domain of the states. But online gaming is within the purview of the Centre. The challenge now is to ensure that these online joints don’t ‘convert’ themselves into some other form and then con­tinue with the same set of activities.

The law prescribes an authority for online gaming with a view to encourage “e-sports”. The authority or any authori­ties that the Centre may empower, will set guidelines and also encourage training and research into “e-sports”. The Act is thus not only to prohibit online money games but also to encourage e-sport.

The punishments for organising, promoting and helping financial transactions for these money games range from a sentence ranging from three to five years as well as fines from ₹50 lakh to  ₹1 crore. These offences under the Act will be cognisable offences.

Newsmaker
Aryan Khan: The New Khan on the Block
Shah Rukh Khan’s son makes life imitate art in his directorial debut

TENSION NAHI LENE ka, andar jakar log aur bhi famous ho jaate hain (No need to get tense. People become more famous after going to jail),” says the guard to the young actor he is locking up in his jail cell. The director of ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, from where the dialogue is drawn, is Aryan Khan, and he is clearly referring to his own 25-day incarceration in Mumbai Cen­tral Jail in 2021. The nudge-nudge, wink-wink self aware­ness permeates the trailer of the show set to premiere on Netflix next month. This is not merely yet another Netflix series, with overtones from Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om (2007), but a rite of passage of one of Bollywood’s most privileged children, the ultimate insider, son of Bol­lywood’s most famous outsider. Much like Shah Rukh Khan’s cleverest film, Fan (2016), the series is all set to give us a glimpse of what goes on in the Hindi film industry. And who better than Aryan Khan, who has studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California and had a ringside view of his father’s career, to deliver Bollywood’s formula filmmaking to the audience, with a poker face but a sharp eye and sharper tongue. Having seen the dark side of fame with his arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), a fact difficult to erase from his CV, the 27-year-old has shown immense courage in putting his life together, keeping his head down, working behind the scenes, and making his debut as director, avoiding, at least for now, the biggest trap that has bedevilled other star children: comparisons with his father. (By Kaveree Bamzai)

Noisemaker
Kc Venugopal: Missing the Mark

Congress leader KC Venugopal is better known as a party organiser than an orator. His bid to corner Home Minister Amit Shah in Lok Sabha by referring to the case against the BJP leader when he was a minister in Gujarat failed to hit the mark. Shah promptly pointed out that he had resigned before being arrested and assumed office only when discharged. The Bills to ensure arrested netas resigned was meant for shameless politicians, Shah said.

Ideas
Urban Planning

When the monorail was first launched in Mumbai in 2014, it was sold as a futuristic transport alternative that could ease congestion in an important part of the city. Over a decade since, the project, built at a cost of about  ₹3,000 crore, has been an abject failure. Ridership has remained abysmally low, breakdowns of the service are frequent, and the cost of running the service is known to be haemorrhaging the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Annual losses are said to average  ₹220 crore. Recently when the city witnessed a deluge, two monorail trains broke down between stations, leaving passengers trapped in the compartments, without AC and light, for nearly three hours. They were eventually rescued hours later by the fire brigade, who smashed the windows and brought down the passengers, some of who needed hospitalisation, using turntable ladders. The official reason being offered is that the unavailability of enough buses and taxis during the downpour had led to an overloading of the monorail trains, leading to a breakdown. The fact that the trains could not handle even a small surge—the trains are designed to carry 562 passengers, and there were around 582 and 566 passengers in the two trains—and that no rescue services were immediately available, has raised many eyebrows. What the failure of the monorail displays is how shoddy urban planning is in our cities. Projects are sanctioned with much fanfare, but, when operationalised, often turn out to be duds.

Money Mantra
Double-Edged GST Rationalisation
While investors can benefit from sectoral opportunities, questions remain on fiscal sustainability

EVER SINCE ITS introduction, the Goods and Services Tax or GST regime has attracted criticism for its complexity. So, the proposed rationalisation of GST, especially in the form of lowering rates on goods and services that have strong consumption linkages, could act as a much-needed stimulant for demand in the economy.

In recent years, rising inflation and stagnant real wages in some segments have led households to defer or cut back on purchases that fall outside the essential category. A reduction in GST makes these products more affordable, nudging consumers towards purchases. For example, sectors like white goods, real estate, hospitality, and res­taurants—where high GST has acted as a demand dampener—may see renewed momentum if rationalisation reduces the overall cost to the consumer. For investors, the implications of GST rationalisation need careful thought. Sectors directly benefiting from rate cuts will likely see an earnings upgrade cycle as volume growth accelerates. Consumer discretionary companies—especially in automobiles, durables, quick-service restaurants, and travel—are the most obvi­ous beneficiaries. At the same time, FMCG companies that operate on high-volume, low-margin models could see expanded demand in rural and semi-urban areas, where tax savings at the consumer level have an outsized impact on purchasing decisions. However, inves­tors must also weigh the fiscal consequences. A large-scale reduction in GST rates may pressure government revenues and widen the fiscal deficit. Equity investors, while optimistic about sector-specific tailwinds, must therefore keep an eye on the broader macro picture.

In essence, GST rationalisation is a double-edged dynamic for inves­tors. On one side, it offers direct sectoral opportunities, and could trigger a fresh round of growth in domestic demand. On the other, it raises questions about fiscal sustainability that could temper long-term inves­tor confidence. The rational approach for investors is to tactically tilt portfolios toward consumption beneficiaries of tax cuts, while main­taining a balanced allocation that considers macroeconomic risks. (By Ramesh Singh)

Viral
Shah Rukh Fan Attempts to Enter Mannat

Mannat, Shah Rukh Khan’s sea-facing residence in Bandra, is probably the most well-known residential address in the city. Every day legions of fans gather at its gate, either to catch a glimpse of the superstar making his way in or out of the house or just to take a picture of themselves at the location as a keepsake. Occasionally, fans are known to try to make their way in. Recently, an Instagrammer named Shubham Prajapat uploaded a video of himself trying to enter the gate, posing as a food delivery agent carrying coffee that had been ordered by someone named Shah Rukh Khan from Mannat. The security guards at the front entrance direct him to a back gate. But unfortunately for Prajapat, a vigilant guard there calls his bluff.

Aryan KhanIndian ParliamentinvestmentKC VenugopalRegulation of Online Gaming Billstock marketUrban planning