Online gambling in India: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in India?

Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA) on 21 August 2025 and the Act and its 2026 Rules took effect on 1 May 2026. Section 5 bans offering any online game played for stakes in expectation of winnings, Section 6 bans advertising it and Section 7 bars banks and payment systems from processing payments for it, with up to three years in prison and fines of up to one crore rupees. The Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) classifies games and registers e-sports and online social games. Land-based casinos in Goa, Sikkim and Daman and state lotteries continue under separate laws, and the constitutional challenge to PROGA was pending before the Supreme Court in September 2026.

Prohibited: Online gambling is illegal for operators and players and is enforced.

Who regulates gambling in India?

• Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) — Central authority under PROGA 2025: determines whether a game is a prohibited online money game, registers e-sports and online social games, hears complaints and directs blocking and payment cut-off
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) — Parent ministry that notified the Act and Rules; its Secretary hears appeals against OGAI orders
• State governments (Goa, Sikkim and Daman casino licensing; state lottery directorates) — License land-based casinos and run lotteries under the Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998

India gambling licence: how it works

No licence exists for online casino, sports betting, poker, rummy or fantasy sports played for money anywhere in India; PROGA removed the historical skill-versus-chance distinction and prohibits all of them nationally. OGAI can register an e-sport (organized competitive events recognized under the National Sports Governance Act 2025, with entry fees only to cover participation and no wagering) or an online social game (no stakes and no monetary winnings; a subscription or access fee is allowed if it is not a wager). Registration is required only for categories the central government notifies, and a Certificate of Registration is valid for up to ten years. State routes such as Nagaland's online skill-game licences cannot authorize online money games after 1 May 2026.

What an applicant needs

• For OGAI registration the game must involve no stakes, wagers or monetary winnings
• Declared revenue model, intended age group, user-safety features and an internal grievance officer (Rule 23)
• Compliance with OGAI directions on user verification, data retention in India and routing of user payments
• E-sports must first be recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Indian and foreign entities can both apply; no route exists for any game played for money

Gambling taxes in India

• Operators: No lawful online money gaming remains to tax. Before the ban, GST was charged at 28% on the full face value of deposits from 1 October 2023 (Rule 31B); on 27 May 2026 the Supreme Court in DGGI v Gameskraft (2026 INSC 595) upheld that valuation and held the 2023 amendments retrospective, reviving demands of about INR 91,685 crore against online gaming companies. E-sports and social gaming businesses pay ordinary corporate income tax and 18% GST.
• Players: 30% on net winnings from online games under Section 115BBJ of the Income-tax Act, deducted at source under Section 194BA at each withdrawal and at year-end, with no basic exemption (since 1 April 2023). Lottery and casino winnings are taxed at 30% under Section 115BB.
• Also: Legacy GST notices for 2017–2023 are being adjudicated after the Supreme Court ruling. Land-based casinos pay state casino taxes in Goa, Sikkim and Daman.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Section 6 prohibits any advertisement in any medium that directly or indirectly promotes an online money game: up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to fifty lakh rupees, higher for repeat offenses. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had already warned publishers against surrogate betting advertising in 2022 and 2023. Registered e-sports and social games may advertise under ordinary ASCI rules.

Responsible gaming

The Act's response to harm is prohibition rather than limits. Registered e-sports and social games must implement user-safety features, declare a target age group and run a two-tier grievance mechanism (platform officer first, then OGAI).

Identity and age verification

There is no money-gaming KYC regime because there is no licensed money gaming. OGAI can direct user-verification standards for registered games under the 2026 Rules.

Payments

Section 7 bans banks, payment aggregators, UPI apps and anyone facilitating funds from processing payments for an online money gaming service; Rule 20 requires them to suspend such transactions once OGAI determines a game to be an online money game. For registered games, banks must verify the OGAI certificate before facilitating funds.

Notable restrictions

• All online money games are prohibited, including fantasy sports, rummy, poker, opinion trading and ludo for cash
• Advertising or promoting online money games is a criminal offense for advertisers, media and endorsers
• Banks and payment systems must refuse and block payments to online money gaming services
• Offences under Sections 5 and 7 are cognizable and non-bailable; sites and apps can be blocked under the IT Act
• Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have their own bans on online games for stakes, upheld by the Supreme Court on 27 May 2026

India iGaming market: size, players and payments

FICCI–EY (March 2026) put the online and video games segment at INR 195 billion in 2025, down 17% after the ban; money games earned INR 133 billion up to the ban (INR 179 billion in 2024) and e-sports plus video games INR 63 billion.

FICCI–EY counts about 517 million gamers in India in 2025, with more than 100 million engaging daily; in-app purchases rose 15% in 2025 as former money-game players moved to mid-core titles.

India is a mobile-first market; FICCI–EY attributes casual and mid-core growth to smartphone penetration in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

After 22 August 2025 the large real-money brands (Dream11, MPL, Games24x7, WinZO, Gameskraft, Zupee) suspended cash games and pivoted to free-to-play, content, fintech or export businesses; Head Digital Works (A23) leads the pending Supreme Court challenge.

Timeline: how India got here

1. 1867Public Gambling Act prohibits common gaming houses; betting and gambling later become a state subject
2. 1998Lotteries (Regulation) Act allows only state governments to run lotteries
3. 2023-10GST at 28% on the full face value of deposits takes effect for online money gaming and casinos
4. 2025-08Parliament passes PROGA; presidential assent on 22 August; major platforms suspend cash games
5. 2025-09Supreme Court transfers the constitutional challenges from three High Courts to itself
6. 2026-04MeitY notifies the 2026 Rules, constitutes OGAI and sets 1 May 2026 as the commencement date
7. 2026-05Act in force; Supreme Court upholds 28% GST retrospectively and the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka bans (27 May)
8. 2026-08Supreme Court orders pleadings completed in Head Digital Works v Union of India ahead of a final hearing

Outlook

The decisive pending item is the Supreme Court's ruling on whether PROGA survives Article 19(1)(g) scrutiny; on 5 August 2026 the bench ordered pleadings completed and no date for final arguments had been announced by September 2026. The May 2026 Junglee Games and Gameskraft judgments strengthened the government's position on state powers and tax, so counsel generally expect the prohibition to stand. OGAI's registration portal was still being completed in mid-2026.

GameBridge and India

Not served by GameBridge. Real-money online gaming is a criminal offense for operators, advertisers and payment intermediaries in India, so GameBridge does not serve Indian residents with real-money brands; India is excluded by geo-controls by default and this page exists so compliance teams can confirm that status quickly.

Every real-money brand on GameBridge ships with India on the country deny list, enforced by GeoIP with a device GPS re-check and a restricted-region page in Hindi and English; the setting is logged and cannot be relaxed by brand staff. The only Indian configuration the platform supports is a Gold Coins-only social brand with no prize redemption, run by an operator whose counsel has confirmed the product is an online social game under Section 2(1)(i) of PROGA and, where the government notifies the category, registered with OGAI. Such a brand runs in Hindi, Bengali and English with an INR store, UPI and card checkout for coin packages, purchase limits, age gating and a grievance-officer flow. GameBridge does not configure sportsbook, casino, poker or fantasy products for Indian users under any model.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (Act 32 of 2025) — India Code, accessed 2026-09-11
• Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) — Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, accessed 2026-09-11
• Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 303(E) — Gazette of India (Gazette Tracker), accessed 2026-09-11
• A New Era of Online Gaming Governance — the 2026 Rules — Press Information Bureau, accessed 2026-09-11
• Supreme Court upholds 28% GST on online money gaming; 2023 amendments retrospective — LiveLaw, accessed 2026-09-11
• Challenge to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 — Supreme Court Observer, accessed 2026-09-11
• Stories, scale and impact: Unlocking India's media and entertainment economy — FICCI and EY, accessed 2026-09-11
• Winnings from Online Games — Sections 115BBJ and 194BA — Income Tax Department, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.