India PROG Act Bans Online Gaming: What Operators Must Know

⏱ 3 min read

India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, 2025 became fully operational on 1 May 2026, when the accompanying PROG Rules, 2026 — notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 22 April 2026 — came into force. The legislation ends 160 years of fragmented, state-level gambling governance under the colonial-era Public Gambling Act of 1867, replacing it with India's first unified federal framework for online gaming.

The scale of disruption is stark. India had 568 million online gamers and a real-money gaming (RMG) sector worth an estimated ₹230 billion (~US$2.75 billion) before the ban. Within 90 days of the PROG Act passing Parliament in August 2025, domestic RMG platforms had recorded asset write-downs exceeding $840 million, and an estimated 7,000 workers lost their jobs. Since enforcement began on 1 October 2025, authorities have blocked more than 7,800 illegal betting and gambling websites.

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What Changed on 1 May 2026

The PROG Act passed both houses of Parliament in a single 48-hour window on 20–21 August 2025, with minimal stakeholder consultation, and was signed by President Droupadi Murmu on 22 August 2025. The rules that give it operational teeth arrived eight months later. Together, they impose an absolute, nationwide prohibition on online money games — defined as any game where a user pays fees or deposits stakes in expectation of monetary gain, regardless of whether skill is involved. The skill-versus-chance distinction that Indian courts had applied for decades is now legally irrelevant.

Criminal liability is personal and severe. Offering, advertising, or facilitating payments for a prohibited platform carries up to 3 years' imprisonment or a fine of ₹1 crore (~US$120,000) for first-time offences. Advertising alone attracts up to 2 years and a ₹50 lakh fine. Crucially, the rules make heads of payments, chief compliance officers, and senior executives personally liable for their organisation's violations unless they can demonstrate documented due diligence. Banks and payment gateways are explicitly required to verify a game's regulatory status before processing transactions and must act on OGAI enforcement directions, including blocking payment flows to non-compliant platforms.

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The Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI)

The cornerstone of the new framework is the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI), constituted as an attached office of MeitY, headquartered in New Delhi, and designed to operate as a digital-first regulator. Its chair is the Additional Secretary, MeitY (ex officio), supported by joint secretary-level representatives from five ministries: Home Affairs, Finance (DFS), Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs & Sports, and Law & Justice. The multi-ministry composition is deliberate — online gaming intersects with cybercrime enforcement, financial regulation, content oversight, sports policy, and legal compliance.

The OGAI's core powers include maintaining and publishing the official banned list of online money games, issuing classification determinations within a 90-day window, blocking unlawful platforms via powers under the IT Act, 2000, directing financial institutions to freeze payment flows, and hearing user appeals. All enforcement proceedings are conducted digitally and must conclude within 90 days of a complaint being filed.

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How Games Are Now Classified

The rules create three distinct categories. Only the first is banned; the other two are permitted with varying compliance obligations.

Category	Definition	Status	Registration Required?	Key Examples
Online Money Games	Any game involving fees, deposits, or stakes with expectation of monetary return — skill or chance irrelevant	Fully prohibited	Ineligible	Fantasy cricket (Dream11), rummy (A23/RummyCircle), poker (Adda52), sports betting
E-Sports	Organised competitive video gaming with no wagering component	Permitted	Mandatory for recognition under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025	Tournament-format multiplayer games with no monetary stakes
Online Social Games	Recreational/educational games with no stakes or monetary reward expectation	Permitted	Only if specifically notified by the Central Government or OGAI	Casual mobile games, subscription-only platforms

For permissible games, the rules impose mandatory user safety features: age verification and age-gating, parental controls, time-play restrictions, user reporting tools, addiction counselling support, and fair-play integrity monitoring. Service providers must also localise all traffic data and metadata on servers within India.

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Impact on Offshore Operators and Bettors

Critics warned from the outset that a blanket ban would drive Indian players to unregulated offshore platforms rather than eliminate gambling. JCDC Sports founder Jaya Chahar argued the ban pushes fan engagement away from regulated Indian platforms into unregulated offshore spaces. The concern appears to have materialised rapidly: a survey cited by the Economic Times found that before the ban just 3.4% of users spent more than two hours daily on offshore platforms; after the ban that figure jumped to 44%. A separate RegTechTimes analysis warned the law risks creating a shadow economy invisible to regulators, potentially worsening the money-laundering problem the government sought to address.

For offshore operators — including those operating from the UK, Malta, Curaçao, and Gibraltar targeting Indian players — the PROG Act's reach is explicit. The Act has nationwide applicability covering both domestic and offshore platforms accessible within India. MeitY and cyber cell authorities are empowered under the IT Act, 2000 to block overseas sites, and payment intermediaries are prohibited from processing deposits or withdrawals for any game on the OGAI's banned list, irrespective of where the operator is domiciled.

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Legal Challenges Still Pending

The PROG Act has faced constitutional challenges. The provisions have been contested before the Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi High Courts. However, in a significant direction, the Supreme Court of India ruled that any further challenge to the Act must come directly before the apex court, closing the high court route for new petitions. The matter is currently listed for final hearing before a three-judge bench, with the November 2026 session widely cited as the likely window. The Supreme Court had previously cautioned petitioners that celebrity endorsement questions and industry lobbying arguments fall outside the scope of the constitutional validity hearing. Until a ruling is delivered, the PROG framework remains the operative law.

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Sources

Primary regulatory documents and legal analysis were cross-checked across the following sources:

It is very clear that online money gaming is banned and they cannot be registered or determined under the Act.

— S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) · Official statement on PROG Rules, April 2026