# UPI and Online Gaming Payments in India in 2026

Source: https://cricketin.org/guides/upi-and-online-gaming-payments

[By Farhan Qureshi](/authors/payments-expert), Payments Expert. [Reviewed by Rajeev Sathe](/authors/editor-in-chief), Editor-in-Chief. Updated 25 Aug 2026. Editorial policy: https://cricketin.org/editorial-policy

18+ Betting money on cricket carries a direct risk of financial loss, and it can become an addiction. Real-money online gaming is banned across India under the PROG Act 2025, which came into force on 1 May 2026.

If betting is already costing you money you need, or sleep, or people close to you, the free Tele-MANAS helpline is **14416**, and it runs in 20 languages. Our [page on help for gambling harm](/guides/help-for-gambling-harm-india) lists what else exists.

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How UPI moves money, why Section 7 of the PROG Act 2025 covers gaming payments, what your bank records keep, and what middlemen cost you.

UPI moves money from one bank account to another in seconds. NPCI owns and runs the system ([NPCI](https://pay.google.com/intl/en_in/about/external/npci/)). Since 1 May 2026 a payment to a real-money gaming service is itself blocked by law. Section 7 of the PROG Act 2025 stops banks, other lenders and any other person from handling that money ([Act text, MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)).

This page walks through what happens after you tap Pay. It covers the record left in your bank history. It shows what a middleman really changes. It also shows why money gets stuck, and which complaint routes are open.

## How UPI actually 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. It runs 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 shop 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. There is 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 the payment itself is now the offence

Most people think only the operator is at risk. That changed in 2026. The law with the long name, the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, took effect on 1 May 2026. 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 is short and very wide. It covers banks, other lenders, and any other person who moves money. None of them may help a payment reach an online money game ([text of the Act, MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)).

The words "any other person" do a lot of work. The ban is not aimed at big banks alone. It reaches anyone who moves the money along. Section 9(3) sets the penalty. It is up to three years in prison, or a fine up to one crore rupees, or both ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)).

Section 10 adds a point that bites. An offence under Section 5 or Section 7 is cognisable and non-bailable ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). We set out the whole shape of the law on our page on [what the PROG Act 2025 says](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained). For a payer the short version is simple. The money leg is no longer a grey area.

**Table 2. The bans and the punishment 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 |

## What your bank sees, and what stays on record

A UPI payment is not private. 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 got 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. The bank that received the money. None of those copies are yours to control.

- 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.

There is a tax layer as well. Tax is cut at source on net winnings from online games under Section 194BA. No minimum limit applies to that cut ([Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/winnings-from-online-games)). Our page on [how 30% TDS on winnings works](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) shows the maths. The point here is narrower. Money in and money out both leave a trail. That trail outlives your interest in the game.

## "P2P top-up" and middlemen: what it does to you

When normal payment routes close, middlemen show up. The pitch is always the same. 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.

We will not describe how any of that is set up. What matters is what it does to the sender. Four things change, and all four are worse for you.

- **You lose the payer's paper trail.** A transfer to a private person is a private transfer. No shop 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 hunt runs both ways along the 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)).

Read that last point again slowly. 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. Our page on [how agent-run cricket IDs fail](/guides/cricket-id-and-agent-accounts) follows that thread 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. It marks what it can find. That system is the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System. It sits 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. 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 write a standard plan for mule accounts. The same plan must cover accounts tied to cyber fraud. The Court also asked for faster work on 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/)).

Note what that tells you. The court wants the process to improve, which means it is slow today. Our page on [frozen payments and why chargebacks rarely help](/guides/payment-freeze-and-chargebacks) goes through this in detail.

## What is actually open to you

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. You may then go to the Ombudsman if the reply does not satisfy you. You may also go if no reply comes in 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 money fraud on helpline 1930 ([National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal](https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/Crime_NodalGrivanceList.aspx)).

Now the honest part. The Ombudsman scheme is about 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)). An offshore gaming firm is not one. A private person who took your transfer is not one either. So your strongest route runs against your own bank, and only about its service.

We do not give legal advice. If real money is stuck, ask a lawyer who works on payment disputes. Our note on [how we check and verify claims](/how-we-test) explains where our limits are.

## What this page does not contain

You may have come here for a payment method that works. There is none here. That is a choice, not an oversight.

- No operator names, no app names, no middlemen, no contacts.
- No steps or work-arounds for funding a money game.
- No ratings and no bonus figures.

The reason is Section 6 of the same Act. It bans ads for a money game, direct or indirect ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). To point at a payment route is to point at the service. Our [explainer on the ad rules](/legal/advertising-rules-online-gaming) sets out where that line sits.

One more thing to keep in mind. A challenge to the Act is pending in the Supreme Court, in *Head Digital Works v Union of India*. 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/)). Pending is not the same as paused. For the wider picture, start from our hub of [cricket and betting explainers](/guides). There is also our [2026 answer on whether online betting is legal in India](/legal/online-betting-law-india).

## Questions people ask

### Is a UPI payment to a betting app illegal for me, or only for the app?

Section 7 does not talk about apps. It talks about banks, other lenders, and any other person who helps a payment reach an online money game ([Act text, MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). Whether a one-off payer is covered is a question for a court. It has not been settled. What we still need: a judgment or official word on how Section 7 applies to a single payer.

### Can I reverse a UPI payment if I change my mind?

No. NPCI says plainly that 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 was declined, not for regret.

### Will my bank close my account over one payment?

We found no rule that says one payment leads to closure, so we will not claim one. What we still need: a bank policy or RBI instruction on account action after payments to gaming services. What is on the record is this. Accounts 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. It is not written around one product name ([MeitY](https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/10/8a7f103cefc68ed8aaa2ebc9a2ed7c13.pdf)). A new pipe 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 that 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 money fraud there is also helpline 1930 ([cybercrime portal](https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/Crime_NodalGrivanceList.aspx)).

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