OGAI Targets India's Full Digital Supply Chain in Gaming Crackdown

⏱ 3 min read

India's online gaming regulator has fired its first shot at the entire digital supply chain. On 29 July 2026, T. Santhosh, Secretary of the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI), issued a formal advisory directing app stores, banks, telecom operators, OTT platforms, cloud providers, and advertising agencies to immediately cease any role in enabling Online Money Games — the category banned outright under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, 2025.

The move is significant because it extends criminal liability beyond gaming operators themselves. Until now, enforcement had focused on blocking URLs and cutting payment flows to gambling sites. The 29 July advisory explicitly warns that any entity in the digital supply chain — from Google Play and the Apple App Store to UPI providers, ad networks, and social media intermediaries — could face up to three years' imprisonment and fines of up to ₹1 crore for facilitating prohibited gaming.

---

The Advisory Explained

The OGAI advisory, first reported by Medianama, cites Sections 5, 6, and 7 of the PROG Act as the legal basis for holding intermediaries responsible. It asks organisations to immediately review their policies, implement compliance systems, and suspend any non-compliant activities. The advisory is non-binding in the sense that it stops short of a formal blocking order, but it puts all intermediaries on written notice — meaning future enforcement actions can cite the advisory as proof of awareness.

This is the first major compliance push by OGAI since the authority became operational on 1 May 2026, the same date the PROG Rules came into force. The advisory follows months of OGAI establishing its classification framework and registration procedures for permitted e-sports and social gaming.

---

Who Is Targeted

The Print's exclusive report confirms the advisory names eight categories of intermediary:

• App stores (including Google Play and Apple App Store)
• Cloud service providers hosting gaming platforms
• Telecom and internet service providers
• Banks and financial institutions, including UPI and payment gateway operators
• Social media intermediaries
• OTT platforms
• Advertising agencies and ad networks
• Any entity that directly or indirectly aids or financially enables Online Money Games

The breadth is deliberate. MeitY has acknowledged that offshore operators have continued to reach Indian users by switching domains, routing payments through mule accounts, and advertising on social platforms — precisely the channels now put on notice.

---

Penalties and Legal Exposure

Under the PROG Act, the penalty structure that now applies to intermediaries is:

Offence	First Violation	Repeat Offence
Offering or facilitating Online Money Games	Up to 3 years + ₹1 crore fine	3–5 years + ₹1–2 crore fine
Advertising a prohibited money game	Up to 2 years + ₹50 lakh fine	2–3 years + ₹50 lakh–1 crore fine
Processing payments for banned platforms	Up to 3 years + ₹1 crore fine	3–5 years + ₹1–2 crore fine
Hosting platform infrastructure	Up to 3 years + ₹1 crore fine	3–5 years + ₹1–2 crore fine

The offences are cognisable and non-bailable, meaning arrests can be made without a warrant. No formal complaint from OGAI is required to trigger prosecution — any law enforcement authority can act on the statute directly.

---

Market Context: The Black Market Problem

The advisory arrives against a backdrop of mounting enforcement failure. Despite India blocking over 8,376 offshore gambling URLs since PROGA came into effect in October 2025, offshore platform usage among Indian bettors has climbed from 68.3% pre-ban to 82% post-ban, according to a CUTS International survey published in December 2025. The illegal real-money market is projected to exceed $15 billion in 2026. Offshore betting advertisements represented 72% of all advertising violations flagged by regulators in the most recent fiscal year.

Operators have evaded site-level blocking using URL-switching — cycling through new domains within hours of a takedown. By targeting the payment rails, app distribution networks, and advertising infrastructure simultaneously, OGAI is attempting to make the economics of serving Indian users unworkable for offshore platforms, not just technically difficult.

---

Operator and Bettor Impact

For any operator still serving Indian users — or considering India as a future market — the implications are direct:

• App store listings: Any real-money gaming app accessible to Indian users on Google Play or the App Store now creates documented liability for those store operators, who face pressure to delist proactively rather than wait for a formal OGAI order.
• Payment processing: UPI providers, card processors, and neo-banks serving offshore betting platforms are explicitly named. Payment terminations, already significant since October 2025, are likely to accelerate sharply.
• Advertising: Meta, Google Ads, and programmatic ad networks running offshore betting creatives targeting India now have documented legal exposure under Indian law — making India-facing campaigns commercially toxic for compliant ad platforms.
• Cloud infrastructure: Any instance identified as hosting a prohibited Online Money Game for Indian users could trigger OGAI enforcement against the cloud provider, adding a new layer of operational risk for offshore operators using global infrastructure.

For Indian bettors, the practical effect will be further degradation of access to offshore platforms — disrupted payment methods, broken apps, and reduced promotional activity as operators scale back advertising spend targeting India to avoid drawing regulatory attention.

---

Sources

Primary and secondary sources used in this report, in order of authority.

India's crackdown on online money gaming is no longer aimed solely at gaming operators. Regulators are now holding the entire digital supply chain responsible for ensuring prohibited services do not remain just one click away.

— T. Santhosh, Secretary, Online Gaming Authority of India · OGAI Advisory, 29 July 2026