India will apply and enforce the laws of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules (PROGA 2025) as of 1 May 2026.
The mandate, authorised by the houses of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 22 August 2025, will impose an outright federal ban on all apps, devices and services that involve real-money gaming mechanisms and transactions.
The Act was designed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and will enforce the implementation of a federal framework for Indian authorities to regulate online gaming activities.
On 1 May, MeitY will launch the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) as the new regulatory body for the sector, which will oversee the classification of games under the terms of PROGA.
The authority will be granted powers to oversee compliance, investigate illegal gaming activities and adjudicate complaints relating to unlicensed ‘real money’ platforms that target Indian consumers.
OGAI will operate with “judicial authority”, holding powers similar to a civil court to summon entities, review evidence and enforce rulings. Enforcement of PROGA will be supported by a India Central Police Force, with the OGAI able to summon the support of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Under the framework, the mechanisms of online money gaming are defined as “an online game, played by a user by paying fees, depositing money or other stakes in expectation of winning monetary gains or other enrichment”, irrespective of whether the “game is based on skill, chance, or both.”
The law also extends to the promotion and advertisement of such services, with violations carrying penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment and fines reaching ₹1 crore (circa €95,000).
The board of MeitY has contended that the rules of PROGA have been designed to capture platforms, apps and systems – not by gameplay mechanics, but by “the presence of financial risk and reward”.
The rules will establish a three-tier classification system covering online social games, esports and online money gaming.
While social and casual games will be permitted to operate under a lighter regulatory approach, esports competitions may offer prize pools provided they are pre-declared and structured as authorised competitive events (with determined prize structure and competition rules).
However, MeitY has clarified that any format “involving direct user staking” can be reclassified as a prohibited money gaming type. The distinction will place significant discretion in the hands of OGAI to determine compliance on a case-by-case basis.
No point of return
The government has framed PROGA as a “regulation-light” framework for non-monetised gaming, removing mandatory registration requirements for most social gaming platforms unless flagged for review.
Though PROGA establishes federal rules and definitions for real-money gaming and its mechanisms, the Act stops short of providing a definitive legal classification of “online gambling”, which remains as a legislative gap.
Under the Constitution of India, betting and gambling are classified as autonomous privileges, meaning that individual states are granted primary authority to legislate, regulate or prohibit gambling activities within their jurisdictions.
The federal laws of Indian gambling remain attached to the Public Gambling Act of 1867, which maintains horseracing as the only federally-recognised gambling activity.
The approval of the PROGA regime led to an instant reconfiguration of India’s gaming sector which, in 2024, recorded a GGR of ₹31,900 crore (~€3.7bn) and employed a workforce of circa 120,000.
In the aftermath of the PROGA regime, Flutter Entertainment shut down its Junglee Games venture, closing its Mumbai office and taking a hit of approximately $560m in impairment charges.
MeitY has been urged to reconsider the classification of certain real-money gaming mechanics, with stakeholders warning that overly broad definitions could prove detrimental to India’s technology and digital sector.
