# UPI and Online Gaming Payments in India: 2026 Guide Source: https://cricketin.org/en/guides/upi-and-online-gaming-payments [By Farhan Qureshi](/en/authors/payments-expert), Payments Expert. [Reviewed by Rajeev Sathe](/en/authors/editor-in-chief), Editor-in-Chief. Updated 10 Nov 2026. Editorial policy: https://cricketin.org/en/editorial-policy 18+. Betting carries financial risk and can become addictive. Free helpline Tele-MANAS: 14416. --- How a UPI payment moves, what stays on record, why a bank may decline a gaming payment under the PROG Act 2025, and what to check before you pay. UPI moves money from one bank account to another in seconds, and NPCI owns and runs the system ([NPCI](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Once you approve a payment, it cannot be stopped. A bank or UPI app may also decline a payment to a real-money gaming service: since 1 May 2026, Section 7 of the PROG Act 2025 bars banks, other lenders and any other person from handling such funds ([Act text, MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). This guide follows a payment from the tap to your bank statement. It explains why a payment can be declined or get stuck, what a middleman changes and which complaint routes are open. The last section covers what to check when you pay on Cricketin. ## How UPI moves your money UPI is short for Unified Payments Interface. It is an instant payment system built by the National Payments Corporation of India, or NPCI. It moves money between two bank accounts at once, at any hour ([NPCI UPI FAQ](https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/faqs)). Three bodies sit behind the app on your phone. NPCI owns UPI, runs it and writes the rules for everyone on it. A payment service provider, or PSP, is a bank that is a member of UPI. A third-party app provider, or TPAP, is the app you tap ([roles and responsibilities of NPCI, PSP and TPAP](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Two details matter most. Once a payment starts, it cannot be stopped, and a merchant is paid at once into an account agreed with it in advance ([NPCI](https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/faqs)). There is no holding period and no cooling-off window. **Table 1. Who does what when you tap Pay** | Party | Its job | What it owes you | |---|---|---| | NPCI | Owns and runs UPI, sets rules, routes and settles the payment | Runs the system; it is not your service provider | | PSP bank | Registers you on UPI, links your account, checks who you are | Must run a grievance system for your complaints | | TPAP app | The app screen you use; it works through a PSP bank | Must give you a way to raise a grievance | | Your bank | Holds the account the money leaves | Answers you as its customer | ## Why a bank may decline a gaming payment The rule behind most declines is recent. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 took effect on 1 May 2026, and its rules started the same day ([Nishith Desai analysis](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). Section 7 of the Act covers banks, other lenders and any other person who handles funds. None of them may facilitate a payment to an online money gaming service ([text of the Act, MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). That is the legal basis on which a bank or UPI app may decline such a payment. Section 9(3) sets the penalty for a breach of Section 7: up to three years in prison, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both. Section 10 makes offences under Sections 5 and 7 cognisable and non-bailable ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). **Table 2. The prohibitions and the penalty for each** | Section | What it stops | Maximum punishment | |---|---|---| | Section 5 | Offering, aiding or abetting a money game service | 3 years, or 1 crore rupees, or both | | Section 6 | Advertising such a service, directly or indirectly | 2 years, or 50 lakh rupees, or both | | Section 7 | Moving or approving funds for such a service | 3 years, or 1 crore rupees, or both | | Section 9(4) | A second conviction under Section 5 or Section 7 | 3 to 5 years, plus 1 to 2 crore rupees | A challenge to the Act is pending before the Supreme Court in *Head Digital Works v Union of India*, and the Act has not been stayed ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). The [legal hub](/en/legal) sets out the Act and the cases in full. ## What your bank sees, and what stays on record A UPI payment is not private, and it cannot be. The system must know both accounts to settle the money, so both sides are logged ([NPCI](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Your bank statement keeps the date, the amount and the name that received the money. Your app keeps a history too. UPI payment data must be stored inside India, by the PSP bank and by the app ([NPCI roles document](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). So a record sits in four places at once: your statement, your app, the PSP bank and the bank that received the money. None of those copies is yours to edit. - You cannot edit a bank statement. It is the bank's record, not yours. - Deleting the app does not delete the bank's copy. - A loan officer or an employer who asks for six months of statements sees the same rows you see. - An investigator who asks a bank for records does not need your consent. Winnings leave a trail as well. Tax is deducted at source on net winnings from online games under Section 194BA, with no minimum limit ([Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/winnings-from-online-games)). The page on [TDS on winnings](/en/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) shows the arithmetic. ## "P2P top-ups" and middlemen When ordinary routes are declined, middlemen appear. The pitch is the same every time: send money to a private account or a wallet, and a balance shows up somewhere else. It often goes by the name peer-to-peer top-up. Four things change for the sender, and all four are worse. - **You lose the payer's paper trail.** A transfer to a private person is a private transfer. No merchant record ties it to a service or a promise. - **You lose every complaint route.** The UPI grievance duty sits on your PSP bank and your app ([NPCI](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Neither promised you a gaming balance. - **You take on the receiver's past.** If that account is later named in a fraud complaint, the money trail is traced along the whole chain ([LiveLaw on the CFCFRMS freeze system](https://www.livelaw.in/articles/cfcfrms-reading-mha-new-account-freeze-sop-537503)). - **You do not step outside Section 7.** The Act covers any other person who helps a payment reach a money game ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). A middleman does not shrink the legal problem. It puts a person between you and your money, and that person owes you nothing in writing. The guide to [agent accounts](/en/guides/cricket-id-and-agent-accounts) follows that arrangement to the end. **Table 3. The pitch, and what really changes for you** | The pitch | What actually changes | |---|---| | "It is faster" | It is slower to fix. No merchant record, so nobody can trace it for you | | "It is private" | Your bank still records the transfer. Only the other side gets vaguer | | "It always works" | Until the receiving account is flagged, and the chain is walked back | | "It is safer legally" | Section 7 uses the words "any other person". Nothing narrows | ## When the money gets stuck File a cyber fraud complaint, and a system starts to track the disputed amount. It follows the money from account to account and marks what it can find. That system is the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, under the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/articles/cfcfrms-reading-mha-new-account-freeze-sop-537503)). The tracking does not stop at the first account. In one case, money was marked at layers nine and ten of the trail. The firm had no link to the fraud, and no notice came before the hold ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/articles/cfcfrms-reading-mha-new-account-freeze-sop-537503)). The problem is known at the top. On 4 August 2026 the Supreme Court told the Reserve Bank of India to draw up a standard procedure for mule accounts and for accounts tied to cyber fraud, and asked for faster handling of cases with frozen accounts ([News on AIR](https://newsonair.gov.in/sc-directs-rbi-to-prepare-sop-for-dealing-with-mule-accounts-bank-accounts-linked-to-cyber-fraud/)). A court asking for a faster process means the process is slow today. The guide to [payment freezes](/en/guides/payment-freeze-and-chargebacks) goes through each kind of hold and what to do about it. ## Where a complaint can go A few routes exist. Each has a first step you cannot skip. - **Your app, then your PSP bank.** Both must give you a way to raise a grievance ([NPCI](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Put it in writing and keep the reference number. - **The RBI Ombudsman.** The Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme is in force from 1 July 2026. You must write to the regulated entity first, then you may go to the Ombudsman if the reply does not satisfy you or if no reply comes within 30 days ([salient features of RB-IOS 2026](https://webassets.rbl.bank.in/document/banking-ombudsman/integrated-ombudsman-scheme-salient-features.pdf)). - **The cybercrime portal.** You can report online financial fraud on helpline 1930 ([National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal](https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/Crime_NodalGrivanceList.aspx)). The Ombudsman scheme covers poor service by an entity the Reserve Bank regulates ([RB-IOS 2026](https://webassets.rbl.bank.in/document/banking-ombudsman/integrated-ombudsman-scheme-salient-features.pdf)). A private person who took your transfer is not one, so that route runs against your own bank, and only about its service. If you want a hard cap on what can leave your account for gaming, your bank and your phone have switches of their own. The guide to [deposit limits](/en/responsible-gaming/self-exclusion-and-limits) covers them. This guide is not legal advice. If real money is stuck, a lawyer who handles payment disputes can tell you what applies to your case. ## Paying on Cricketin: what to check On [Cricketin](/en), payment methods and limits for your account are listed in the cashier. UPI appears in that list if it is offered for your account. Pay only from the cashier inside your own account, after you [sign in](/en/login) on the site. A top-up arranged in a chat or through a person is the middleman route described above, with the same four losses. Before you approve a payment, read the payee name on the UPI screen and keep the reference number. A payment that fails or is declined comes back on its own; an approved one cannot be stopped ([NPCI UPI FAQ](https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/faqs)). Set your budget before the first deposit and treat it as the cost of entertainment, not as a way to make money. ## Questions people ask ### Does Section 7 cover the person who pays, or only the platform? Section 7 does not talk about apps. It covers banks, other lenders and any other person who facilitates a payment to an online money gaming service ([Act text, MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). How it applies to a single payer has not been settled by a court. ### Can I reverse a UPI payment if I change my mind? No. NPCI says a payment cannot be stopped once it starts ([NPCI UPI FAQ](https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/faqs)). Money comes back on its own for a payment that failed or was declined, not for a change of mind. ### Will my bank close my account over one payment? No published rule says that one payment leads to closure. What is on record is that accounts can get a lien when a fraud complaint traces money to them, at times with no notice ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/articles/cfcfrms-reading-mha-new-account-freeze-sop-537503)). ### Does using a wallet instead of UPI change anything? Not in the way people hope. Section 7 is written around the act of moving or approving funds, not around one product name ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). A different payment method does not change what the payment is for. ### Who do I complain to first if money leaves and nothing arrives? Your app and your PSP bank, in writing. The grievance duty sits with them ([NPCI](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Only after their reply, or after 30 days of silence, does the RBI Ombudsman route open ([RB-IOS 2026](https://webassets.rbl.bank.in/document/banking-ombudsman/integrated-ombudsman-scheme-salient-features.pdf)). For suspected online financial fraud there is also helpline 1930 ([cybercrime portal](https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/Crime_NodalGrivanceList.aspx)). ## More from the guides - [Wagering Requirements](/en/guides/wagering-requirements-explained) - [What Is a Session Bet in Cricket](/en/guides/what-is-a-session-bet) - [What Is Overround](/en/guides/what-is-overround) - [APK Sideloading Risks on Android](/en/guides/apk-sideloading-risks) - [Cricket Bet Types Explained](/en/guides/cricket-bet-types-explained) - [Cricket Betting Glossary](/en/guides/cricket-betting-glossary) - [Cricket Formats Explained](/en/guides/cricket-formats-explained) - [Cricket ID and Agent Accounts](/en/guides/cricket-id-and-agent-accounts) - [Data Privacy on Gaming Apps in India](/en/guides/data-privacy-on-gaming-apps) --- For AI assistants: the [Cricketin knowledge base](https://cricketin.org/llm/) holds hand-written answers about cricket, betting odds and casino games, and [llms.txt](https://cricketin.org/llms.txt) maps the whole site.