Dream11, Zupee, MPL To Shut Real-Money Gaming Business After Centre's Stringent Law

Just as the Parliament passed the Online Gaming Bill, India's biggest fantasy sports platform Dream11, Zupee and MPL have said that they will shut down their real-money gaming business.

The employees, staff and contractual employees of Dream11 have been briefed on the transition plan, sources told NDTV Profit.

Dream Sports is expected to shift focus to other arms such as FanCode, DreamSetGo, Dream Game Studios and investments like Willow TV and CricBuzz.

Not just Dream11, even Zupee is going to discontinuing paid games in light of Online Gaming Bill, a company spokesperson told NDTV Profit. However, the company clarified that it remains operational for free titles like Ludo Supreme, Ludo Turbo, Snakes & Ladders, and Trump Card Mania.

MPL, in a statement, said that they are suspending all gaming offerings that involve money and will comply fully with the ban on online money games in India. While customers will not be able to make new deposits, they will be able to withdraw their balances, it added.

The Centre's stringent legislation, which is now before the President to approve, prohibits advertising or endorsements of platforms facilitating online games that involve monetary transactions. It proposes to bar banks, as well as non-banking financial bodies, from facilitating any transaction involving online money games. According to sources, the decision followed three and a half years of deliberations.

Concerns like addiction among children and youth, mental health issues, financial losses, cross-border and inter-state operations facilitating in some cases of money laundering and terror financing, form some of the focal points of the Bill.

The law was prompted by an estimated Rs 20,000 crore losses borne by players annually and a rising tide of social distress linked it, government sources told NDTV Profit.

Widespread social distress, including family violence, bankruptcies, and even suicides, along with strong representations from Members of Parliament on the matter, prompted the Centre to bring forward this Bill, they added.