# PROG Act 2025 Explained: Sections, Dates and Penalties Source: https://cricketin.org/legal/prog-act-2025-explained [By Ananya Rathi](/authors/legal-writer), Legal and Compliance Writer. [Reviewed by Rajeev Sathe](/authors/editor-in-chief), Editor-in-Chief. Updated 28 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. --- A section-by-section read of the PROG Act 2025: key dates, the bans in Sections 5 to 7, Section 9 penalties, the new Authority and what stays legal. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROG Act) bans online money games in India. Section 5 bans offering them. Section 6 bans ads for them. Section 7 bans paying for them. Section 9 sets the price. For a repeat offence it runs up to five years in jail. The Act began on 1 May 2026, with its 2026 Rules. Below you get the dates, the key words, all three bans and the penalty table. Then the reach outside India, the new watchdog, and the two kinds of game that stay legal. ## How the Act arrived, step by step The PROG Act did not land overnight. It moved in stages. Each stage has a date. Knowing the dates keeps you from reading an old article as if it were current law. **Table 1. Timeline of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025** | Date | What happened | Source | |---|---|---| | 20 August 2025 | Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha and passed the same day | [PRS Legislative Research](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) | | 21 August 2025 | Passed by the Rajya Sabha | [PRS Legislative Research](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) | | 22 August 2025 | Presidential assent and gazette notification | [Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/), [ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india) | | 31 October 2025 | Public consultation on the draft Rules closed | [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) | | 22 April 2026 | Online Gaming Rules, 2026 notified by MeitY | [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) | | 1 May 2026 | Act and Rules come into force | [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) | The Act is numbered Act No. 32 of 2025. One more date is worth a note. When the [ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india) country chapter was written, the Act had assent but was not yet in force. That gap between assent and start day is why so much writing online reads as if nothing had changed. ## The words the Act defines, and why they matter Most of the force of this Act sits in its word list. Learn these four and the rest follows. ### Online game Section 2(f) covers a game played on a digital device. The game runs as software over the internet or like tech ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). That net is wide on purpose. ### Online money game This is the banned kind. You pay a fee or a stake. You expect money or some other gain back. Skill, chance or a mix of both makes no odds ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). [PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) puts the same test in one line: money or stakes paid, in the hope of a gain. ### Other stakes Section 2(j) treats anything you can turn into money as a stake. Credits, coins and tokens are all named. Real or virtual, it makes no odds ([Nishith Desai](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 game can be a money game with no rupee sign on screen. ### E-sport and online social game These two are the legal kinds. They get their own section below. ## The three bans: Sections 5, 6 and 7 The bans are short and they stack. Each one catches a different player in the chain. **Table 2. What each prohibition section covers** | Section | Who it aims at | What it forbids | |---|---|---| | Section 5 | Anyone at all | Offering a money game or money gaming service, and aiding, abetting, inducing or engaging in that offering | | Section 6 | Advertisers, publishers, endorsers | Making or helping to make any ad that directly or indirectly promotes a money game, or pushes someone to play one | | Section 7 | Banks, financial institutions, any other person | Facilitating a transaction, or authorising funds, towards payment for a money gaming service | The wording of all three is set out by [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). [PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) lists the same three bans in its Bill summary. Note how far Section 5 reaches. Helping and pushing are separate acts from offering. A person who never runs a site can still fall inside it. Section 6 is the one that shapes this website. We take it apart on our page about [ad rules for online gaming](/legal/advertising-rules-online-gaming). ## Penalties in Section 9, first and repeat Section 9 carries the punishment. We read the figures from the Act itself. Most write-ups skip the rule on a repeat offence. **Table 3. Section 9 penalties, first conviction and repeat conviction** | Provision | Jail | Fine | |---|---|---| | 9(1), breach of Section 5 | Up to 3 years | Up to ₹1 crore | | 9(2), breach of Section 6 | Up to 2 years | Up to ₹50 lakh | | 9(3), breach of Section 7 | Up to 3 years | Up to ₹1 crore | | 9(4), repeat of 9(1) or 9(3) | Not less than 3 years, up to 5 years | Not less than ₹1 crore, up to ₹2 crore | | 9(5), repeat of 9(2) | Not less than 2 years, up to 3 years | Not less than ₹50 lakh, up to ₹1 crore | Every number in Table 3 comes from the text of the Act as published on [India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220). Two points deserve a plain reading. On a first conviction the court may pick jail or a fine. On a repeat it becomes jail *and* a fine, with a floor under both. There is a second, civil track too. You may be told to follow a direction or a code from the Government or the Authority. Ignore it and the fine runs up to ₹10 lakh. Your registration can also be paused or pulled, after a hearing ([PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025)). Nishith Desai places that fine in Section 12 ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). Search powers are wide. An officer may enter and search a place with no warrant. That takes in digital records, email and social media accounts. A suspect found during the search may be arrested. The steps run under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 ([PRS Legislative Research](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025)). Offering a money gaming service is cognisable and non-bailable. That means police may act without a court order, and bail is not a right ([PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025)). ## The Act reaches outside India Section 1(2) is one sentence, and it does a lot of work. The Act covers the whole of India. It also covers a money gaming service offered inside India. And it covers one run from outside India ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). So the country of the company is not the test. The test is who the service is offered to. Nishith Desai reads the same clause the same way. It catches foreign firms that put money games in front of users in India ([Nishith Desai](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 14 adds the practical arm. Break Section 5, 6 or 7 and the site can be blocked from public view. The block runs through Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). Our page on [offshore apps and Indian law](/legal/offshore-betting-apps-india) shows what that looks like from a phone. ## The Online Gaming Authority of India The Rules set up a watchdog. It is the Online Gaming Authority of India, and we call it the Authority below. It sits as an attached office of MeitY and works mainly online. The chair is an Additional Secretary of MeitY, or an officer no lower than Joint Secretary. Members come by post from Home Affairs, Finance, Information and Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Law and Justice. The head office is in New Delhi ([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)). The [Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/) case page notes that the Rules made this body. What can it do? A short list covers most of it. - Rule on whether a game is a money game, under Section 8(2) ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). - Keep and publish a list of the games it has ruled on ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). - Look into complaints about a game. - Give orders to game firms, advertisers and payment firms. - Issue codes of practice, and hear user appeals. - Work with banks, police and other watchdogs on enforcement. How it decides is worth a line. It asks if fees or deposits are taken at any stage. It asks if users expect a return. It looks at the revenue model. It checks whether in-game rewards can be moved or cashed out ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). One ruling covers one game from one firm. It does not cover every game that looks the same ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). [PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) names the body a bit differently. Its Bill summary speaks of "an Authority" that the Government may set up. The powers listed are to decide, recognise, sort and register online games. The name in the Rules is the one now in use. ## What the Act allows, not just what it bans The title says "Promotion and Regulation" for a reason. Two kinds of game stay open. Both are marked by one thing: no stake. **E-sports.** Section 2(c) sets the bar. The game is played as part of a multi-sport event. It runs as an organised contest, in teams, under set rules. It is recognised under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The result turns on skill, speed or tactics. Entry fees and prize money for how you play are fine. Bets, wagers and other stakes are not ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). [PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) lists the same four limbs. An e-sport must also be on the register of the Authority before anyone may offer it ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). **Online social games.** Section 2(1)(i) covers games with no stake and no hope of winning money. A monthly fee or a one-off access fee is fine. It must not be a stake or a wager. The aim has to be fun, rest or skill ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). Most social games need no entry on the register. That changes only if the Authority or the Government asks ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). Sections 3 and 4 are the promotion side. They provide for growing and recognising e-sports and social games with no money at stake ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). The Government may set up a register, publish rules for events, back training schools and support safe social gaming ([PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025)). One warning for cricket fans. A free tipping game with no stake and no cash prize can sit in the social game box. Add an entry fee and a cash prize and it moves to the banned box. The Authority looks past the label at how the money flows ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). ## Duties put on banks and service providers The Rules push work onto third parties. The Authority sends an order to a bank or a payment firm. That firm must then pause, limit or stop moving money for the game. It must also hand over any facts or help the Authority asks for ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). The Authority can also call people in and question them. It can inspect books, data and records ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). That reach takes in cloud firms, payment gateways, KYC vendors and like suppliers ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). Have you ever wondered why deposits and payouts start to fail? This is the machinery behind it. Our guide to [frozen payments in online gaming](/guides/payment-freeze-and-chargebacks) covers the user side. ## Older laws did not vanish The PROG Act is new. It does not stand alone. Several older laws still apply to the same activity. They can bite at the same time. - **The Public Gambling Act, 1867.** Many states took up this old law, among them Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. Each added local changes ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). - **State gaming Acts.** Some pre-date the internet. Others were redrawn for online play, among them those of Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). Our [state table](/legal/state-by-state) lists them. - **The IT Act, 2000 and the 2021 Intermediary Rules.** These cover online content and online gaming go-betweens. A go-between is a service that carries content posted by other people. They also let the Government and the courts block unlawful content ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). - **Tax law.** Tax on winnings and GST on stakes run on their own tracks. Section 115BBJ taxes winnings from online games at a flat 30% ([the Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-115bbj)). See [tax held back on winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india). Reading them as a set matters for one reason. A person can be inside the PROG Act, inside a state Act and inside the tax net at once. The new Act did not wipe that older stack for you. ## What is still unsettled about this Act An honest page has to mark its own edges. Three things are open. First, the Act is under challenge in court. *Head Digital Works v Union of India*, T.C.(C) No. 133/2025, is pending in the Supreme Court ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). In August 2026 the bench listed it for a final hearing. It also told the parties to finish their pleadings ([theIGaming](https://theigaming.eu/2026/08/07/india-supreme-court-final-hearing-online-gaming-act-2025/)). A second outlet reports the same step. It adds that the Court will take up a public interest plea about sites that dress themselves up as social gaming or e-sports ([CDC Gaming](https://cdcgaming.com/brief/supreme-court-of-india-to-hear-challenges-against-igaming-laws/)). We track it on our [Supreme Court page](/legal/supreme-court-online-gaming-cases). Second, the name of one judge on that bench differs between our sources. Supreme Court Observer lists V. M. Pancholi. The iGaming Europe writes V. Mohana. The cause list needs a check before we print a third name. Third, we have read no published order that applies Section 9 to a named person. So we set out what the text says. We do not claim to know how it is enforced. Trial court cases under Section 9 need sourcing from court records before we write about them. For the wider picture, start at [our legal hub](/legal). For the short answer on legality, read [whether online betting is legal in India](/legal/online-betting-law-india). For the money side, see [how GST applies to online gaming](/legal/gst-on-online-gaming) and [the state law table](/legal/state-by-state). ## Questions people ask ### What is the PROG Act in one sentence? It is the central law that bans online games played for money across India. It has been in force since 1 May 2026 ([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)). ### Does the Act ban all online games? No. Sections 3 and 4 provide for e-sports and social games with no stake ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). The ban is aimed at games played for money. ### How bad is a second conviction? Section 9(4) sets a floor of three years in jail and a fine of at least ₹1 crore. The roof is five years and ₹2 crore ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). ### Who runs this law day to day? The Online Gaming Authority of India. The 2026 Rules set it up as an attached office of MeitY ([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)). ### Can police search without a warrant? Yes. [PRS Legislative Research](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025) records that officers may enter and search with no warrant. They may also arrest a suspect found during the search. ## More from the legal hub - [State Gambling Laws in India](/legal/state-by-state) - [Supreme Court on Online Gaming](/legal/supreme-court-online-gaming-cases) - [TDS on Online Gaming Winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) - [Online Gaming Ad Rules in India](/legal/advertising-rules-online-gaming) - [GST on Online Gaming in India](/legal/gst-on-online-gaming) - [Offshore Betting Apps in India](/legal/offshore-betting-apps-india) - [Is Online Cricket Betting Legal in India](/legal/online-betting-law-india) - [Fancy Bets in Cricket Explained](/guides/fancy-bets-explained) - [Help for Gambling Harm in India](/guides/help-for-gambling-harm-india) - [Caribbean Premier League 2026 — live schedule and table](/leagues/cpl)