CCI closes Google gaming case after new online-gaming law changes the rules

The Competition Commission of India has closed its inquiry into Google following a complaint by WinZo Games, which had accused the technology giant of abusing its dominant position in the distribution and advertising of real-money gaming applications, according to a report by LiveLaw Biz.The CCI said a new law governing online gaming had fundamentally changed the legal landscape since WinZo filed its complaint. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, prohibits online money games as well as their advertising, distribution and related financial transactions.As a result, the remedies sought by WinZo are no longer legally possible, the regulator said. The CCI stressed that its decision to close the case was not a finding on whether Google's conduct had been anti-competitive. What WinZo allegedWinZo, which operates the WinZo gaming platform, had challenged the way Google allowed real-money gaming apps on its Play Store and permitted them to advertise through Google Ads.The company alleged that Google's Play Store pilot programme permitted only two categories of real-money gaming applications—Daily Fantasy Sports and Rummy—while excluding other RMG apps.WinZo made a similar allegation about Google Ads, saying advertising access was restricted to those two categories.It also raised concerns about Google Pay, alleging that the payments service displayed warnings when users paid WinZo for skill-based games without clearly explaining the criteria triggering those warnings.The CCI initially found enough grounds to investigate. In November 2024, it held that Google was dominant in three relevant markets in India: licensable operating systems for smart mobile devices, app stores for Android smart mobile operating systems and online search advertising services.The regulator then directed its investigative arm, the Director General, to examine the allegations. Google offered a way forward During the investigation, Google proposed changes intended to address the CCI's concerns.Under a revised commitment proposal, Google offered to allow legally permissible skill-based real-money gaming applications on Google Play and Google Ads, subject to certification and other conditions.That solution was overtaken by a change in the law.The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act received presidential assent on August 22, 2025, and came into force on May 1, 2026, along with the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026.The law takes a broad approach to online money games. It does not distinguish between games based on skill and those based on chance when money or stakes are involved. Also read: Teen reading slumps to worst this century due to surge in screen time Why the case could no longer continue The CCI said the new law effectively removed the legal market that WinZo's complaint was seeking to open up.Section 5 prohibits offering or engaging in online money games and related services. Section 6 prohibits advertising such games, while Section 7 bars facilitating financial transactions connected with online money gaming services.That meant the CCI could not order Google to admit RMG applications to the Play Store or allow their advertisements on Google Ads, since doing so would run counter to the new law.The same reasoning applied to WinZo's complaint about Google Pay. The CCI said an order requiring Google to facilitate payments for online money gaming services would conflict with Section 7.Google had already shut its RMG pilot programme and stopped accepting RMG advertisements from January 2026, before the new law took effect.The company subsequently sought permission to submit a revised commitment that would formally close the pilot programme and prohibit advertisements for all RMGs. The CCI said there was little purpose in accepting such a commitment because the proposed restrictions were already mandated by law. WinZo's withdrawal did not automatically end the case WinZo also sought to withdraw its complaint at an August 25, 2026 hearing.The CCI said that did not by itself require the proceedings to end. Competition-law proceedings are inquisitorial and conducted in the public interest, meaning the complainant does not control the case once the regulator has begun examining the alleged conduct.The regulator said several factors together made further investigation unnecessary: the change in law, the absence of a lawful remedy, Google's discontinuation of the pilot programme and RMG advertising, the stage of the commitment proceedings and WinZo's request to withdraw its complaint.It therefore closed the inquiry, recalling its November 28, 2024, order directing an investigation under Section 26(1) of the Competition Act.The CCI made clear that its latest order does not establish whether Google's earlier conduct violated competition law. It also left the door open to revisiting the matter if the relevant provisions of the online-gaming law are stayed, struck down, repealed or otherwise cease to operate.