# Online Gaming Law in India: The Legal Hub for 2026

Source: https://cricketin.org/legal

[By Ananya Rathi](/authors/legal-writer), Legal and Compliance Writer. [Reviewed by Rajeev Sathe](/authors/editor-in-chief), Editor-in-Chief. Updated 31 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.

---

The map of India's online gaming law in 2026: the dated timeline, the three bans, tax, state Acts, court cases, and the page for each question.

Money gaming online is banned across India. The rule is the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, and it took effect on 1 May 2026. Cricket wagering for cash is inside that ban. A licence held abroad does not help you.

This hub maps the eight pages of our legal section. It gives you the dated timeline in one table, then points each question at the page that settles it.

## The legal position in August 2026

One law now sits above the rest. It is the PROG Act 2025. The full name is longer. Its number is Act No. 32 of 2025 ([the Act text on India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). The bans are printed in that text.

Three bans do the work. Section 5 stops anyone offering a money game. Section 6 stops adverts for one. That covers hints as well as plain ads. Section 7 stops banks moving the funds. It binds any other person too ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). Cash bets on cricket fall inside all three.

The reach is wide. The Act and its 2026 Rules cover all of India. They also cover a money game run from abroad for players here ([Nishith Desai Associates](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). So a licence from another country is no help.

The Rules name a watchdog. It is the Online Gaming Authority of India ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). Section 8 of the Act set it up ([theIGaming](https://theigaming.eu/2026/08/07/india-supreme-court-final-hearing-online-gaming-act-2025/)).

## How the law arrived, date by date

Readers keep mixing up four dates. The Bill date. The assent date. The Rules date. The start date. One table fixes that.

**Table 1. The dated path from Bill to enforcement**

| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 21 August 2025 | Parliament passed the Bill. The Rajya Sabha cleared it a day after the Lok Sabha. | [PRS Legislative Research](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) |
| 22 August 2025 | The President gave assent. The Bill became Act No. 32 of 2025. | [Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/) |
| 22 April 2026 | MeitY notified the 2026 Rules. The start date came by notification S.O. 1994(E). | [India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220) |
| 1 May 2026 | The Act and the Rules came into force together. | [Nishith Desai Associates](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586) |
| 27 May 2026 | Three judgments upheld state online gaming laws. A fourth upheld tax on staked money. | [the NLS tech-law bulletin](https://forum.nls.ac.in/may-2026-ijlt-tech-law-bulletin/) |
| August 2026 | The challenge to the central Act is listed for final hearing. Nothing is paused. | [theIGaming](https://theigaming.eu/2026/08/07/india-supreme-court-final-hearing-online-gaming-act-2025/) |

Two details are worth keeping. The Act was signed in 2025. It then sat idle for months. The ban began to bite on 1 May 2026. That is why older news stories read so oddly.

## Your question and the page that answers it

This section has eight pages. Each owns one question. Find yours on the left.

**Table 2. Reader question mapped to the page that settles it**

| What you came to ask | Page that answers it |
|---|---|
| Can I bet on cricket online at all? | [Is online betting legal in India](/legal/online-betting-law-india) |
| What exactly does the new Act say? | [The PROG Act 2025, section by section](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained) |
| Is my state an exception? | [The full table of state gambling Acts](/legal/state-by-state) |
| What happens to a foreign app? | [Offshore apps under Indian law](/legal/offshore-betting-apps-india) |
| How much tax comes off a win? | [Tax withheld from online winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) |
| Who pays the 40% GST? | [GST on online gaming](/legal/gst-on-online-gaming) |
| What did the court actually decide? | [The case tracker for 2026](/legal/supreme-court-online-gaming-cases) |
| Why do adverts keep vanishing? | [Ad rules for online gaming](/legal/advertising-rules-online-gaming) |

## Start with the Act and the plain answer

Most people need only two pages. The first gives the yes-or-no reply in layers. It runs from the central Act down to the court case. Read [the 2026 answer on online betting](/legal/online-betting-law-india) for the short route.

The second is the long form. It walks Sections 5, 6 and 7. It then sets out Section 9. It ends with the two game types left alone. Read [our study of the Act](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained).

The scale of the fines is worth knowing first. Offering a money game can bring up to three years in jail. The fine there runs up to one crore rupees. An advert can bring up to two years and up to fifty lakh. Those two money offences are cognisable and non-bailable ([PRS Legislative Research](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025)). Repeat cases sit in Sections 9(4) and 9(5) ([Nishith Desai Associates](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). We print no numbers for them yet . The sources we opened do not give the terms.

## Where states and courts fit in

The state question used to decide everything. It no longer does. State Acts still exist. [Our state table](/legal/state-by-state) lists them with years and sources. Not one of them opens a lawful route now.

The rulings of 27 May 2026 pushed the same way. The Court said states may curb staking on an uncertain result. Skill in the game does not stop them. It held that the High Courts had read the State List far too narrowly ([the NLS tech-law bulletin](https://forum.nls.ac.in/may-2026-ijlt-tech-law-bulletin/)).

A separate fight is still live. The case is *Head Digital Works v Union of India*, T.C.(C) No. 133/2025. Its status is pending ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). High Court cases were pulled into the Supreme Court on 8 September 2025. The route used was Article 139A ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). Dates and rulings sit on [our case tracker](/legal/supreme-court-online-gaming-cases).

## Tax and payments, kept separate

Two taxes get confused all the time. One lands on you. One lands on the platform.

Your side is income tax. Net wins from an online game are taxed at a flat 30%. The charge sits in [Section 115BBJ](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-115bbj), added by the Finance Act 2023 from 1 April 2024. Tax is also cut at source under Section 194BA. The rate there is 30%, taken on a withdrawal or at year end ([the Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/winnings-from-online-games)). The basic exemption limit does not help you. No deduction is allowed either ([the Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/winnings-from-online-games)). The sums, with the Rule 133 formula, sit on [our page on tax cut from winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india).

The platform side is GST. It is charged on the whole sum staked. The operator's own cut is not the base ([IBFD tax news](https://www.ibfd.org/news/supreme-court-upholds-retrospective-gst-online-gaming-and-gambling)). Rule 31B sets that value, and it dates from 6 September 2023 ([TaxGuru on Rule 31B](https://taxguru.in/goods-and-service-tax/supplies-online-gaming-casino-gst-implications.html)). The rate is 40%, and it has applied since 22 September 2025 ([Press Information Bureau](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2163560&reg=3&lang=2)). The 28% rate is the older one. That is the rate the May 2026 ruling was about. Read [our GST page](/legal/gst-on-online-gaming) for the split.

Payments are a third layer. Section 7 blocks the money itself. So the rails matter as much as the app. Our guide to [UPI and gaming payments](/guides/upi-and-online-gaming-payments) follows a rupee through the system.

## Advertising, and what we refuse to publish

Section 6 covers plain ads and hints alike ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). That is why sponsor logos kept vanishing through 2026. Stand-in brands went the same way. Creators are exposed too, not only firms. [Our page on ad rules](/legal/advertising-rules-online-gaming) works through both.

The same section shapes this website. We name no operator here. We print no ratings. We quote no bonus figures. We host no download links. An ad industry code on warning size also exists. We have not checked its current wording . [Our editorial policy](/editorial-policy) sets out the rule we work to.

## What is still open

Honesty about gaps is part of the job. Three things are unresolved as we publish.

- The court challenge has no ruling yet. A pending case is not a pause ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)).
- The date of the August 2026 listing order is given only as a Wednesday ([theIGaming](https://theigaming.eu/2026/08/07/india-supreme-court-final-hearing-online-gaming-act-2025/)).
- The reported GST rate change needs a primary notice before we print it as fact.

We log every change we make. See [our fix log](/corrections). It sits next to [how we check a claim](/how-we-test).

## How to read this section in order

Start with the plain answer page. Move to the Act. Then check tax. That part shocks people the most. Read the case tracker last.

Is money already the problem? Then the law is not your first stop. Go to [our responsible gaming page](/responsible-gaming) instead. The free Tele-MANAS line answers on 14416. It runs in 20 languages ([Ministry of Health and Family Welfare](https://www.mohfw.gov.in/press-info/7787)).

Want the mechanics, not the law? The other map is [our guides hub](/guides). The way in is [the Cricketin home page](/).

## Questions people ask

### Which law should I read first?

Read the Act itself. It is Act No. 32 of 2025, and Sections 5, 6 and 7 hold the three bans ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). Our [section-by-section read](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained) follows it.

### Does the pending court case change anything today?

No. The challenge is listed as pending, with a three-judge bench ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). Nothing in that status suspends the ban.

### Is any part of online gaming still allowed?

Yes, where no money stake is involved. Sections 3 and 4 deal with e-sports and social games ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). Money games are the banned class.

### Why does this hub list no apps or operators?

Section 6 makes promotion an offence, direct or indirect ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). We publish explanations instead, and we name no platform anywhere.