India's Online Gaming Act 2025, section by section, and what it means for offshore crypto casinos
India's Online Gaming Act 2025: what it bans
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 bans offering, advertising and processing payments for any online money game, skill or chance, from 1 May 2026. Offering carries up to 3 years or Rs 1 crore. Only 2 of 24 crypto casinos on the CryptoGuardz register name India in their own restricted lists.
Piece published Reviewed by CryptoGuardz Register Desk, editorial desk
India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 bans the offering, advertising and payment processing of every online money game, whether it turns on skill, chance or both. It came into force on 1 May
- Offering one carries up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. Of the 24 crypto casinos on this register, only 2 name India in their own restricted-territory terms.
The Act is Act No. 32 of 2025, dated 22 August 2025 on India Code. A footnote there records the commencement as "1st day of May, 2026", under notification S.O. 1994(E) of 22 April 2026. What follows is the text, section by section. It is not legal advice.
What does India's Online Gaming Act 2025 ban?
Online money games, defined by the stake rather than the game. Section 2(1)(g) defines an online money game as one played "irrespective of whether such game is based on skill, chance, or both" by a user "paying fees, depositing money or other stakes in expectation of winning". On that wording, a casino game falls inside it whenever money goes in and money is expected out. E-sports and online social games are carved out, and both definitions exclude staking.
Section 5 is the ban itself:
No person shall offer, aid, abet, induce or otherwise indulge or engage in the offering of online money game and online money gaming service.
The long title states the target in so many words: the Act exists to prohibit online money games "particularly where such activities operate across State borders or from foreign jurisdictions". An offshore crypto casino is the case it was written for.
What else does the Act prohibit?
Advertising and payments, in two separate sections.
| Section | Prohibits | Aimed at |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Offering online money games | Operators |
| 6 | Any advertisement, in any media, that "directly or indirectly promotes or induces" play | Advertisers, influencers, affiliates |
| 7 | Any "transaction or authorisation of funds towards payment" for the games | Banks, payment firms, "any other person facilitating financial transactions" |
| 14 | Content linked to the games, liable to blocking under the IT Act | Hosts, websites, apps |
Section 7's wording is wide. It covers "any other person facilitating financial transactions or authorisation of funds", which on its face is not limited to banks. Whether a crypto exchange or an on-ramp counts as such a person has not been tested in a court decision read for this page: not verified.
What are the penalties under the Online Gaming Act?
Section 9 sets them, and repeat offences carry minimum sentences.
| Offence | First conviction | Second and later |
|---|---|---|
| Offering, s.9(1) | Up to 3 years, or up to Rs 1 crore, or both | 3 to 5 years and Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore |
| Advertising, s.9(2) | Up to 2 years, or up to Rs 50 lakh, or both | 2 to 3 years and Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore |
| Payments, s.9(3) | Up to 3 years, or up to Rs 1 crore, or both | 3 to 5 years and Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore |
Section 10 makes offences under sections 5 and 7 "cognizable and non-bailable". Section 11 reaches every person "in charge of, and was responsible to, the company" at the time, with a defence for those who prove they acted without knowledge or with due diligence, and a carve-out for independent and non-executive directors "not involved in the actual decision making".
Does the Act punish players?
No section read on India Code penalises a person for playing. Section 9's three offences attach to offering, advertising and moving money. The PIB's March 2026 release and its April 2026 press note on the Rules were both checked for a statement on player liability and contain none. State gambling laws are a separate layer and some of them do reach players; the Tamil Nadu example is set out in is Stake legal in India.
How does the government block gambling sites?
Through the IT Act, and in volume. Section 14 says content "in relation to online money gaming service shall be liable to be blocked for access by the public" on non-compliance with sections 5, 6 or 7. The PIB has published two counts, both from before the Act took effect:
| Period | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 to 2024 | 1,298 blocking directions on betting, gambling and gaming websites and apps | PIB release, 19 March 2025 |
| 2022 to June 2025 | 1,524 betting and gambling websites and mobile apps blocked | PIB backgrounder, 21 August 2025 |
The April 2026 press note on the Online Gaming Rules says only that "Unlawful platforms may be blocked in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000" and gives no new figure. The individual MeitY blocking orders are not published as a list on any page read: not verified.
The Rules come with a regulator. The same press note names the "Online Gaming Authority of India" and says the Rules "will come into force on 1 May 2026". The Rules' own gazette text was not fetched: not verified.
One crypto casino brand has already met a takedown notice, from a different agency. On 1 October 2025 FIU-IND named BC.game among 25 offshore virtual digital asset service providers that had not registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and issued notices for "takedown of the application/URLs for public access". That action was about anti-money-laundering registration, not the Gaming Act. The register's entry is at BC.GAME.
Which crypto casinos restrict India in their terms?
Very few. The register reads each operator's restricted-territory clause and counts a country when its name appears as a whole word.
| Measure | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Operators read | 24 | India country page, terms retrieved 2 October 2026 |
| Name India as restricted | 2 (mBit, Wild.io) | Same |
| Of those, reserve the balance on detection | 1 | Same, from the VPN clause watch |
| Restricted lists that are open-ended | 13 of 24 | Same |
| Stake's clause 14.3 names India | No, 45 entries read 9 October 2026 | stake.com/policies/terms |
So 22 of 24 operators on the register did not name India five months after the central ban on their product took effect. Wild.io's list, as recorded on 2 September 2026, includes "India, Indonesia, Israel" among others. The entries are at mBit and Wild.io.
Not naming a country is not a licence to serve it. Stake's terms say "Stake is not able to verify the legality of the Service in each jurisdiction and it is the User's responsibility" to check. The full breakdown, including which payment methods the operators list for India, is on the India country page.
What it means for a player in India
On the documents: the operator commits the section 5 offence, any bank or payment firm that moves the deposit commits the section 7 offence, and the player is not named in section 9. The operator's own terms usually put the legal risk back on the player and let it void winnings on a breach; the VPN clause watch records which ones reserve the balance. With payments barred by statute and sites liable to blocking, a deposit sits with an operator that no Indian authority supervises and that Indian law says should not be taking it.
What this does not show
The Online Gaming Rules 2026 text was not read. No MeitY blocking order was read, and no count after June 2025 was found. How courts will read section 7 for crypto payments is not covered. State laws are covered only by link.
Quick answers
Is online gaming banned in India?
Online money games are, from 1 May 2026: section 5 bans offering them, skill or chance. E-sports and social games without stakes are not banned.
What is the penalty under the Online Gaming Act 2025?
Up to 3 years or Rs 1 crore for offering, up to 2 years or Rs 50 lakh for advertising, and 3 to 5 years for repeat offenders, under section 9.
Is it illegal to play on offshore casinos in India?
The central Act's penalties target operators, advertisers and payment firms, not players. Some state laws reach players. See the India country page.
How many gambling sites has India blocked?
The PIB reported 1,524 betting and gambling websites and apps blocked between 2022 and June 2025. No later count was found.
Where can I get help with gambling in India?
Gambling Therapy offers free international support at gamblingtherapy.org. More options are on the responsible gambling page.
Sources
- The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (Act No. 32 of 2025), India Code, with commencement footnote, retrieved 9 October 2026
- PIB backgrounder, Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025, 21 August 2025, retrieved 9 October 2026
- PIB, Government of India taking measures against online gaming addiction, 19 March 2025, retrieved 9 October 2026
- PIB press note, A New Era of Online Gaming Governance, 30 April 2026, retrieved 9 October 2026
- PIB, Government enacts Online Gaming Act 2025, 18 March 2026, retrieved 9 October 2026
- PIB, FIU IND issues notices for non-compliance to 25 offshore VDA SPs, 1 October 2025, retrieved 9 October 2026
- Stake terms of service, clause 14.3, retrieved 9 October 2026
- CryptoGuardz India country page, restricted-territory terms of 24 operators, retrieved 2 October 2026
- mBit player terms, restricted countries, as recorded by the register, retrieved 2 October 2026
- CryptoGuardz register, Wild.io restricted countries field, from wild.io/terms retrieved 2 September 2026
- Gambling Therapy
About this piece
Compiled by the CryptoGuardz register team from the sources listed above. Research and drafting are AI-assisted and reviewed by a named editor before publication. Nothing here is a recommendation to gamble. If a figure or a reading is wrong, tell us and the correction is logged in public.