The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested that regular competitions and tournaments might not fall under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 , since they don’t count as “betting and gambling”.

A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan was hearing a plea from a “chess player” who said he plays online for a “livelihood” and was about to launch an app. Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataraman, representing the Union Government, said the petitioner “does not play tournaments”.

The petitioner’s counsel denied that his client was involved in betting or gambling, explaining that these were online tournaments hosted by companies. “I pay a participation fee and take a prize,” he said.

Justice Pardiwala agreed to tag this plea with a group of similar petitions f

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