More than 1,400 websites were blocked and disappeared from the Indian internet in one of the biggest regulatory agency crackdowns ever. All of the sites provided online gambling and betting services, and the decision to remove them was made by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The goal was to curb illegal betting and money laundering at a time when gambling addiction was becoming more of an issue in India. India has just created a more comprehensive legal framework for online gambling, and for the most part, it doesn’t allow the practice.
An outdated law regulates gambling in India. The Public Gambling Act of 1867 allows states to regulate the practice, and there’s a variety of different approaches across the country. Betting shops and on-the-ground casinos aren’t allowed in most states.
However, the law doesn’t mention modern forms of gambling such as sites and apps, creating a gray zone that the gambling industry has exploited. This has led the government to introduce new regulations that will address online gambling directly.
To resolve the issue, Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, in August. Starting in October, online gambling became regulated and mostly banned in India. It’s the first such law in India. The law includes:
· A ban on all real-money games of chance
· Introduction of licenses for skill-based games
· Creation of the National Online Gaming Commission
· Mandatory age verification
· Restriction on advertising and financial transactions used for gambling.
When combined, these measures effectively ban all online gambling, which is why so many sites have been taken down. The industry is already finding ways to reach the Indian market and circumvent the law.
MeitY confirmed 1,410 online gambling and betting websites. Further reports have claimed that, in June 2025, the total was raised to 1,524. Alongside those bans, 2,400 bank accounts were frozen for suspicious activity. 350 of those sites were based abroad.
The ministry used Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to justify banning the sites, and a new regulation has been introduced to impose criminal penalties. These tools were enough to stop online gambling at least on these sites and at least for now.
Even though these statistics seem like the government has really doubled down on online gambling, the records show that online casino slots and other gambling services still operate, but they need to be more vigilant about their trace. For instance, it’s still possible to operate from an offshore zone as long as you move the servers often enough.
Slots are the most popular gambling game in India and beyond, and they’re now officially completely banned because they’re a game of luck. Some sites have also started using mirror domains, and law enforcement needs to keep up with the latest tech developments to close all the loopholes.
The industry and the market have already responded to the ban. First and foremost, offshore efforts are increasing, but so are government efforts to build firewalls and other methods to bypass them. This will be an ongoing battle from now on.
The ban applies only to casinos that allow players to bet for money. That’s why we’ve seen the increase in gambling for prizes by smaller casinos. This is an option for a much smaller market; for some players, it’s the only way to bet right now.
A few important events are coming up in the months ahead that those interested in the Indian gambling industry should pay attention to. The first will be the actual rollout of the Online Gaming Commission. It will be the main institution responsible for the regulatory efforts.
The biggest difficulty will come from coordination between the central state and local authorities. Some industry leaders have also challenged the law in courts, and the results of those efforts will be known soon. The government will publish the list of blocked sites, and how well that goes will be a top priority.
Indian authorities have regulated the practice of online gambling. It wasn’t regulated before since the outdated laws didn’t treat online gambling at all. Now, the gambling is almost banned and the government has shut down over 4.000 providing gambling services.
Some companies have continued working despite the new regulations, since they have moved their servers and continue working from offshore zones as before. The implementation of the new ban won’t be easy due to these technical constraints and the tensions between central and local governments in India. However, the truth is that it’s now much more difficult to bet in India than before.
