# State Gambling Laws in India: The Full 2026 Table Source: https://cricketin.org/legal/state-by-state [By Ananya Rathi](/authors/legal-writer), Legal and Compliance Writer. [Reviewed by Rajeev Sathe](/authors/editor-in-chief), Editor-in-Chief. Updated 29 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. --- Every named state gambling Act in India in one table, plus why the state question stopped deciding online money games after 1 May 2026. State gambling Acts still exist. This page lists them all, with years and sources. What they no longer do is settle whether you may play an online money game. The central Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROG Act) covers all of India from 1 May 2026. So no state is an exception. Below: the full table, the old Sikkim and Nagaland licence schemes, the Karnataka bill that never passed, and what the Supreme Court said on 27 May 2026 about state power. ## Why "is it legal in my state" is the wrong question now For twenty years this was the first question an Indian bettor asked. It made sense then. Betting and gambling sit in Entry 34 of the State List. So each state wrote its own rule. Cross a border and the answer changed. Since 1 May 2026 that logic no longer settles your case. The PROG Act came into force on that date, with its 2026 Rules ([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 1(2) spreads the Act over the whole of India. It also covers a service run from outside the country for people here ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). So there is no state where an online money game is a lawful choice for you today. A state Act can add a second layer of trouble. It cannot take the central ban away. Do you want the plain version? Read [our page on whether online betting is legal in India](/legal/online-betting-law-india). State law still matters, for three reasons. It decides what happened before May 2026. It carries penalties of its own. And the Supreme Court has just confirmed that a state may ban online money games itself ([Bar and Bench](https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/supreme-court-upholds-28-gst-levy-on-online-gaming-bets-says-skill-chance-irrelevant-if-money-staked)). ## The full table of state gambling laws This is the one page on our site that holds the whole list. Every other page links here instead of repeating it. Table 1 has one source unless a row says otherwise. That source is the India chapter of the [ICLG gambling guide](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india), and we call it ICLG below. **Table 1. Named state and territory gambling statutes in India** | State or territory | Statute | Year | What the source says | |---|---|---|---| | Andhra Pradesh | Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act | 1974 | The state bans real-money online gaming, including skill gaming; challenges to its amendments are pending | | Telangana | Telangana Gaming Act | 1974 | Same position as Andhra Pradesh, with pending challenges | | Tamil Nadu | Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act | 2022 | Implemented in April 2023; bans online gambling and real-money games of chance; set up the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority | | Tamil Nadu | Online Gaming Authority (Real Money Games) Regulations | 2025 | Blocks minors, requires KYC and sets cautionary pop-ups after set periods of play | | Karnataka | Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, Karnataka Act No. 28 of 2021 | 2021 | Sections 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 held valid by the Supreme Court on 27 May 2026 ([Supreme Court Observer Law Reports](https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/betting-and-gambling-in-games-of-skill-state-of-tamil-nadu-v-junglee-games-india/)) | | Haryana | Haryana Prevention of Public Gambling Act | 2025 | Enacted in April 2025; replaced the 1867 Act in Haryana and extends betting rules to computer networks | | Chhattisgarh | Not named in the sources we read | — | Listed among the states whose gaming law was amended for the online medium, with higher money penalties. We do not print a statute name or a penalty figure we have not read in the state gazette | | West Bengal | West Bengal Gambling and Prize Competitions Act | 1957 | Excludes poker from gaming or gambling | | Sikkim | Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act | 2008 | Licensing regime for online games, limited to play inside Sikkim | | Sikkim | Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) (Amendment) Act | 2024 | Notified in August 2024; brought internet gaming terminals and the licensee URL inside the rules, geo-locked to Sikkim | | Sikkim | Sikkim Casinos (Control and Tax) Act | 2002 | Governs casinos; earlier called the Sikkim Electronic Entertainment Games (Control and Tax) Act | | Nagaland | Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill Act | 2016 | Bans gambling; licenses listed online skill games | | Goa, Daman and Diu | Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act | 1976 | Allows slot machines in five-star hotels and table games on offshore vessels, under licence | | Goa | Goa Public Gambling (Amendment) Act | 2021 | State-level amendments to the 1976 Act | | Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu Prize Schemes (Prohibition) Act | 1979 | May reach sweepstakes, depending on how a scheme is built | | Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and others | Public Gambling Act | 1867 | Colonial statute adopted by several states, some with local amendments | | Rajasthan | Rajasthan Virtual Online Sports (Regulation) Bill | 2022 | A draft bill on fantasy sports licensing; not in force | | Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, Section 3-A | 1930, section inserted 2021 | Up to 2 years, or a fine up to ₹10,000, or both, in the text of the Act ([Act text](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/128253708/)). The 2021 amendment that inserted it was struck down by the Madras High Court on 3 August 2021 ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/madras-high-court-online-gaming-unconstitutional-tamil-nadu-gaming-and-police-laws-amendment-act-2021-178792)) | | Karnataka | Karnataka Police Act, Section 78 | 1963, amended 2021 | The 2021 amendment that criminalised online games with stakes was struck down in full by the Karnataka High Court in February 2022 ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/karnataka-high-court-strikes-down-law-banning-online-gaming-karnataka-police-amendment-act-2021-191889)). We print no section-level penalty we have not read in the gazette | One gap in this table is ours, not the law's. The sources we read say nothing about Meghalaya, so we left the row out rather than guess; that state needs its own gazette reading. Two rows deserve a second look. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka both wrote online-stakes bans into older police and gaming Acts in 2021, and a High Court struck each one down — Madras in August 2021 ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/madras-high-court-online-gaming-unconstitutional-tamil-nadu-gaming-and-police-laws-amendment-act-2021-178792)), Karnataka in February 2022 ([LiveLaw](https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/karnataka-high-court-strikes-down-law-banning-online-gaming-karnataka-police-amendment-act-2021-191889)). So a penalty printed in one of those sections is not proof of a live state offence today. The ban that does apply across India is the central one, in force since 1 May 2026. ## Sikkim and Nagaland: the two former exceptions These two states draw more questions than all the rest put together. The reason is simple. They used to licence online play. Both schemes were real. Both were narrow. ### Sikkim Sikkim licensed online games under its 2008 Act. The allowed list ran to roulette, blackjack, baccarat, poker, bingo and sports games that predict a result. The catch was geography. Play had to stay inside the state, locked by tech. The operator had to be a firm set up in India ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). The cost of entry was steep. The yearly licence fee was ₹5,20,00,000. A bank guarantee of ₹5,00,00,000 stood as security. A licence ran for one year and could be renewed ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). The 2024 amendment tightened the wording. It pulled internet gaming terminals and the licensee URL into the rules. The geo-lock to Sikkim stayed ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). ### Nagaland Nagaland went the other way. It banned gambling and licensed skill games. The list was long. It took in fantasy sports, rummy, poker, chess and quizzes. A licence could go only to a firm set up in India. Its tech and its servers had to sit in India. It needed a clean record and no gambling interests anywhere ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). Fees came in tiers. In the first three years one game cost ₹10,00,000 a year. A bundle of games cost ₹25,00,000. In the next two years both figures doubled. A royalty of 0.5% was due. A late fee ran at 12% a year ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). Under the state Rules, stake games were limited to people over 18 ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). Now the plain reading. Neither scheme is a way round the central ban on online money games. The Act applies across India. It also applies to a service run from outside it ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). An app that waves a Sikkim or Nagaland licence at an Indian user answers a question nobody asked. The same logic covers foreign paperwork. We deal with that on [our offshore apps page](/legal/offshore-betting-apps-india). ## The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill 2025 was never passed This one shows up in search as if it were law. It is not. The state put the bill forward in July 2025. Our source calls it a draft, not an Act ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). What it would have done is still worth knowing. It shows where states were heading before the central Act landed. Here is the shape of it, all from ICLG ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). - A new state body: the Karnataka Online Gaming and Betting Regulatory Authority. - A ban on online betting and wagering on games of chance. Play with tokens or virtual money was in scope. - Skill games would run under licence, and a licence would last three years. - Unlicensed operators faced up to three years in jail and fines up to ₹1 lakh. - That body could add civil fines up to ₹5 lakh for a repeat breach. Note the contrast. The draft kept the skill exemption alive. The central Act did the opposite. It put skill and chance in one box. So the exemption the bill assumed no longer exists ([PRS](https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-bill-2025)). ## What the Supreme Court said about state power On 27 May 2026 the state question got a direct answer. The Court allowed appeals by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It set aside the High Court rulings that had struck their laws down ([Bar and Bench](https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/supreme-court-upholds-28-gst-levy-on-online-gaming-bets-says-skill-chance-irrelevant-if-money-staked)). In the first matter, Part II of the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 was held valid. In the second, five sections of the Karnataka amendment Act of 2021 were held valid ([Supreme Court Observer Law Reports](https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/betting-and-gambling-in-games-of-skill-state-of-tamil-nadu-v-junglee-games-india/)). Table 1 names those sections. The reasoning is the useful part for this page. A stake on an uncertain result is betting. That holds whatever the game. So it sits inside state power under Entry 34 of List II ([SCOLR](https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/betting-and-gambling-in-games-of-skill-state-of-tamil-nadu-v-junglee-games-india/)). The Court did not say all online games are gambling. Nor did it merge the idea of skill with the idea of chance ([the NLS bulletin](https://forum.nls.ac.in/may-2026-ijlt-tech-law-bulletin/)). Full detail sits on [our case tracker](/legal/supreme-court-online-gaming-cases). ## Four states that moved first Some states did not wait for Delhi. Their laws are the ones you hear named most often. So it helps to know what each one did. ### Tamil Nadu This state went furthest. Its 2022 Act was brought in during April 2023. It bans online gambling and real-money games of chance. It also set up a state gaming authority ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). In 2025 the state added Real Money Games Regulations. They keep minors out, require KYC, and force caution pop-ups after a set stretch of play ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). The Supreme Court upheld the state provisions on 27 May 2026. Rummy and poker were part of what it upheld ([SCOLR](https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/betting-and-gambling-in-games-of-skill-state-of-tamil-nadu-v-junglee-games-india/)). ### Karnataka This state amended its Police Act in 2021. The change widened four defined terms. After it, gaming, instruments of gaming, online gaming and a common gaming house all take in online sites and digital devices ([the NLS bulletin](https://forum.nls.ac.in/may-2026-ijlt-tech-law-bulletin/)). Five of its sections were held valid in May 2026 ([SCOLR](https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/betting-and-gambling-in-games-of-skill-state-of-tamil-nadu-v-junglee-games-india/)). ### Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Each of these two works from a Gaming Act of 1974. Both ban real-money online gaming, skill games included. Challenges to their amendments were still open when our source was written ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). ### Haryana This is the newest of the four. Its Prevention of Public Gambling Act was passed in April 2025. It repealed the 1867 Act as it applied there. It also stretched two terms, betting and common gambling house, to cover electronic messages and computer networks ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). ## Where state penalties actually bite Penalty figures in state Acts vary a lot. Many of the old ones are small by today's standards. Our source makes one comparison outright. The amended laws of Haryana and Chhattisgarh set higher money penalties. The Acts that stayed closer to their pre-internet form set lower ones ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). For Chhattisgarh it also notes one point. Liability there reaches gambling carried on through an online medium ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). We will not fill the rest of the penalty column from memory. Jail terms and fines at section level have to be read from each state gazette, one by one, and we print a figure only once we have read it. Until then, treat the central penalties in Section 9 as the serious ones. They are the ones we have read in full ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). ## The central and state tension is still live Here is an odd result. States were told they may ban online money games. The Union then banned them everywhere. Both cannot be the last word forever. That tension is one of the issues in the open challenge to the central Act. One question is whether the Act treads on the power of state legislatures under Entry 34 of the State List ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). The same case page notes that the central Act in effect overrides the state schemes. That puts the question of power squarely in play ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). For a reader in India the practical answer does not move. Until a court says otherwise, the central ban applies in every state. Read [the section-by-section guide to the Act](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained) for what that ban covers. ## How to use this table without fooling yourself Three habits protect you here. - **Check the date on anything you read.** Articles written before May 2026 describe a world with state-level exceptions. That world is gone ([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)). - **Do not read a licence as permission for you.** A Sikkim or Nagaland licence was always about the operator's standing inside that state ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). - **Watch for the skill-game claim.** After 27 May 2026 it does not carry the weight apps give it ([SCOLR](https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/betting-and-gambling-in-games-of-skill-state-of-tamil-nadu-v-junglee-games-india/)). Tax is a separate matter, and it does not follow state lines. See [how tax is held back on winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) and [how GST works on stakes](/legal/gst-on-online-gaming). The rest of the map is on [our legal hub](/legal). Do you see an error in a row above? Our [corrections page](/corrections) tells you how to report it. ## Questions people ask ### Is there any state in India where online betting is allowed? No. Under Section 1(2) the central Act covers the whole of India. It also covers a service run from outside it ([India Code](https://upload.indiacode.nic.in/view-casepdf?type=act&id=AC_CEN_45_0_00004_2025-32_1778133559220)). ### What about a Sikkim licence? That scheme only ever covered play offered inside Sikkim. It was geo-locked and run by a firm set up in India ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). It is not a way round the central ban. ### Did Karnataka pass its 2025 gaming bill? No. Our source calls the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill 2025 a draft. It was never passed into law ([ICLG](https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/india)). ### Can a state still make its own gaming law? On 27 May 2026 the Court held that a state may ban online money games. A skill element in the game does not stop that ([Bar and Bench](https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/supreme-court-upholds-28-gst-levy-on-online-gaming-bets-says-skill-chance-irrelevant-if-money-staked)). Whether the central Act crowds that power out is one of the open issues ([Supreme Court Observer](https://www.scobserver.in/cases/challenge-to-the-promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025/)). ### Why is one row in your table blank? Because we could not source it. The Chhattisgarh statute name and its penalty figures are tagged for checking. We will not fill them in from memory. ## More from the legal hub - [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) - [PROG Act 2025 Explained](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained) - [How Bookmakers Set Cricket Odds](/guides/how-bookmakers-set-odds) - [How Cricket Odds Work](/guides/how-cricket-odds-work) - [Caribbean Premier League 2026 — live schedule and table](/leagues/cpl)