India's OGAI Orders App Stores and OTTs to Stop Enabling Real-Money Games

⏱ 3 min read

India's online gaming regulator fired its first major enforcement salvo on 29 July 2026, issuing a formal advisory that puts OTT platforms, app stores, social media intermediaries, telecom operators, banks, and cloud service providers on notice: facilitate prohibited real-money games and face criminal liability under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, 2025. The advisory, signed by T. Santhosh, Secretary of the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI), marks the first time the new regulator has moved beyond passive classification to active industry-wide enforcement.

The directive arrives as independent data exposes a glaring gap between the law's intent and its effect. A survey by CUTS International found that offshore platform usage among Delhi NCR gamblers jumped from 68.3% before the ban to 82% after it came into force — a 20.1% relative increase. Analysts at Whalesbook estimate the illegal market could top $15 billion in 2026, dwarfing the licensed industry it replaced.

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The OGAI Advisory

The OGAI advisory of 29 July 2026 is the first industry-wide compliance demand issued since the PROG Act, 2025 took effect on 1 May 2026. It invokes Sections 5, 6, and 7 of the Act, which prohibit offering, advertising, and financially enabling online money games respectively. Entities targeted include:

• OTT and streaming platforms
• Apple App Store and Google Play Store equivalents operating in India
• Social media intermediaries
• Internet service providers and telecom operators
• Banks, payment gateways, and UPI providers
• Cloud hosting and content delivery providers

Organisations are instructed to immediately audit their policies, implement compliance systems, and suspend any non-compliant activity. The advisory was also covered by The Print, which described it as the first meaningful enforcement push since the law's commencement.

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Legal Liability for Platforms

The PROG Act creates secondary liability for intermediaries — a significant departure from India's previous regime, in which platforms typically escaped responsibility for hosted content. Under the new law:

• Section 5 bars any person from offering, aiding, or abetting an online money game.
• Section 6 prohibits advertisements that promote or induce participation in a prohibited game.
• Section 7 bars banks and payment processors from facilitating transactions linked to prohibited games.

Penalties for first-time breaches reach ₹1 crore in fines and up to three years in prison for operators, with advertising violations carrying up to two years and ₹50 lakh. Enforcement proceedings are meant to be completed digitally within 90 days.

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The Black Market Surge

Despite more than 8,400 sites and apps blocked by MeitY since enforcement began, demand has not fallen — it has migrated. The CUTS International survey recorded daily offshore platform access rising from 3.4% to 42.3% after the ban took effect. Offshore operators exploit the gap by:

• Rapidly rotating domain names to stay ahead of blocking orders
• Routing payments through mule accounts and fraudulent UPI IDs
• Promoting services through encrypted channels on Telegram and Instagram

The iGaming Expert analysis frames the situation as a structural problem: PROGA eliminated the regulated domestic market without providing a licensing pathway, leaving demand intact and unaddressed.

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Enforcement Challenges

Metric	Pre-PROGA	Post-PROGA (Aug 2026)
Offshore platform usage	68.3% of surveyed users	82% of surveyed users
Daily offshore access	3.4%	42.3%
Illegal market size (projected)	~$8–10B (est.)	~$15B (2026 est.)
Sites / apps blocked by MeitY	~7,800 (Jan 2026)	8,400+ (Aug 2026)
Regulated domestic operators	Multiple licensed incumbents	Zero (all RMG prohibited)

The pattern mirrors prohibition-era outcomes documented in other markets. Critics cited by iGaming Business warned before the law passed that eliminating legal supply without addressing demand would simply shift volume to unregulated channels — a warning now borne out by the data.

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What This Means for Operators

The OGAI advisory signals that passive non-compliance is no longer safe for any entity in the digital supply chain. International operators and affiliates with India-facing traffic face a sharpened risk profile:

• App distribution: Any real-money gaming app accessible in India via major app stores could trigger removal demands directed at the stores themselves, not just the developer.
• Payment processing: UPI and card networks operating in India are formally notified that routing funds to prohibited games exposes them to criminal liability.
• Advertising networks: Display and video ad networks serving Indian users face Section 6 exposure if campaigns promote prohibited games, regardless of where the advertiser is domiciled.
• Affiliate traffic: Channelling Indian traffic to offshore casino or sportsbook products carries escalating legal risk as OGAI builds enforcement capacity.

The Legal 500 analysis of PROGA notes that the Act's extraterritorial reach means offshore platforms serving Indian users are also technically in violation, though cross-border enforcement remains the law's weakest link.

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Sources

Primary sources consulted, in order of authority.

Blocking websites without addressing demand is like plugging one hole in a fishing net — the offshore black market simply moves through the gaps, now bigger and more entrenched than before the ban.

— iGaming Expert, Analysis: India Wagers a Blind Gamble on PROGA · July 2026