In a decisive move to sanitize India’s digital landscape, the Union Government has initiated its most extensive crackdown on illegal betting and gambling to date. On March 20, 2026, authorities blocked 300 additional websites and mobile applications, bringing the total number of blocked platforms to approximately 8,400. This latest action specifically targeted a wide array of unauthorized services, ranging from online sports betting portals and virtual casinos to “Satta/Matka” networks and peer-to-peer betting exchanges.
The surge in enforcement follows a landmark legislative shift. President Droupadi Murmu gave her official assent to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, on August 22, 2025, after it was passed by both houses of Parliament. The Act, which officially commenced on October 1, 2025, serves as the primary legal weapon in this ongoing “Online Gaming Crackdown.” According to government sources, nearly 4,900 of the total 8,400 bans have occurred since this law came into effect, signaling a transition from reactive measures to a systemic, law-backed offensive.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, provides a comprehensive national framework that distinguishes between permissible entertainment and illegal gambling. Central to this crackdown are specific sections of the Act.
The Act categorizes games, in section 3, into three distinct buckets: e-sports, social games, and money games. While e-sports are promoted as legitimate competitive sports, “money games”, defined as any online activity where players stake money on an outcome regardless of skill or chance, are strictly prohibited. Prohibition of Money Games (Section 7) imposes a blanket ban on the offering, operation, and facilitation of online money games. It is the legal basis for the current blocks on casino-style apps and betting sites. Advertising Ban (Section 12), targets protecting the youth; the Act strictly prohibits the advertisement or promotion of prohibited games, including surrogate advertising and celebrity endorsements.
Additionally, the act provides financial oversight and blocking powers to the government to direct banks and payment gateways to stop processing transactions for illegal platforms. Furthermore, it leverages Section 69A of the IT Act to permanently block access to these offshore and domestic illegal links.
This legislative rigor is a sharp departure from India’s fragmented and often confusing history of casino-like online games. Historically, gambling was governed by the colonial-era Public Gambling Act of 1867, which was written decades before the advent of the internet. This 19th-century law focused on physical “common gaming houses,” leaving a massive regulatory vacuum as smartphones and high-speed data became ubiquitous in the 2010s.
For years, the industry operated in a “gray market.” International online casinos frequently targeted Indian players using rupee-based payment methods, exploiting the lack of a central law. Meanwhile, domestic platforms engaged in a decade-long legal tug-of-war in various High Courts and the Supreme Court to prove that games like Rummy, Poker, and Fantasy Sports were “games of skill” rather than “games of chance.” While some states like Goa and Sikkim created localized licensing regimes for casinos, other states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana attempted total bans, many of which were struck down by courts for being overly broad.
The 2025 Act effectively ends this era of ambiguity by centralizing authority and prioritizing consumer protection over industry growth in the real-money sector. By blocking 300 platforms in a single day, the government is sending a clear message: the era of unregulated digital gambling in India is over. The focus has now shifted toward fostering a “safe and trusted” internet, where only licensed e-sports and educational games can thrive, while predatory platforms promising quick wealth are systematically dismantled.