India Launches New Authority Amid Full Online Gambling Ban

Nearly a year on from the Indian Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025, and the government announced that it will launch its online gaming authority. The 2025 regulation effectively banned all real money gambling online, including skill-based eSports, casino games, and also fantasy sports apps. Within weeks, many of the biggest online iGaming and gambling providers withdrew their services, operators and gamers alike took to arms against the Supreme Court, and it looked like the Indian iGaming sector had been dealt a death blow.

So, a year on, it may look strange that India have announced that they will launch a gambling authority. There is no online gambling – so what would there be to regulate? Well, the government wants to now control the offshore gambling sites, and unregulated sites on the periphery of the regulation. All real money online casino games are banned right now, excluding state lotteries and to some extent horse race betting.

There is definitely gray area here though, with commentators speculating on the future of this outright ban, and whether India may see skill-based games and other, arguably non “pure-chance” games making a comeback.

India’s New Online Gaming Authority

On April 22, the Ministry of Electronics and IT announced it will act on the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA), which laid down the groundwork for an Indian Gaming Authority. The Online Gaming Authority of India will be constituted under the frame of the law, and it will be launched on May 1. To kick it off, the MeiTY will launch a competition for the design of the logo for the new authority. For any graphic designers interested, there are prizes for shortlisted entries, ranging from ₹5,000 up to ₹1,000,000.

Exercising the right to launch a judicial authority or a gambling regulator will not change any of the laws or status of iGaming in India, it is merely recognizing the need to have an independent agency to oversee the laws. The Gaming Authority if India, when launched (with a creative new logo), will regulate the sector, disihing out fines and punishments to operators who breach the law, and crack down on black market operators. Real money gambling, however broadly defined in India, is completely banned. Any games with no real money or direct user staking are not affected. But here is where it gets interesting. The agency here will have the oversight and also be tasked with the classification of games as defined by PROGA.

So there is an outside chance that this organization will have to rethink the definition of online gambling and observe the appeal cases for skill based real money games.

Regulating Non Gambling Gaming

Right now, the shift in India has turned from real money formats to free to play games and gaming platforms. There are skill-based eSports and games, but these are not allowed to offer monetization models. Instead, the monetization is heavily regulated, and that means also holding in-game purchases or add-ons to account. Daily Fantasy Sports, especially for cricket, was one of the most popular products in India prior to the ban, and these have not been entirely eradicated. There are still free to play apps and sites for DFS, but these cannot have entry fees or offer cash prizes for participation.

The peer to peer gaming element is still there, but risk has been entirely redirected. This non-risk sector is going to be regulated by the Gaming Authority in India. Another interesting area that is perhaps underexplored is sweepstakes casinos. In the US, these were the prominent alternatives for casino gamers in states where there was no casino gaming. And considering only 8 states have legalized iGaming to date, the demand is high.

Sweepstakes operate out of a legal loophole, offering free to play games where you don’t stake any real money, but you can win cash prizes. These are not banned, nor accepted in India, but it may be an interesting area for the imminent regulator to consider.

Cracking Down on the Black Market

Though in the US, the honeymoon period for sweepstakes has really come and gone. Since last year, when California banned sweepstakes, it started a tidal wave of anti-sweepstakes sentiment across the US. Now, more states are jumping on board and either banning sweepstakes outright or implementing laws to suffocate the operators. Funnily enough, as sweepstakes is slowly phased out in more states, those very states are also considering legalizing online casinos, like New York.

India here may take the safer approach with sweepstakes casinos and block any possibility for the trend to reach the country before operators latch on. The Online Gaming Authority will take on the responsibility of policing the black market sites, and it will be supported by the Indian Central Police Force for more drastic enforcement measures. Blocking sites and domains is nothing new to India, but now, with a regulator whose central responsibility is to eliminate these sites, the measures are expected to magnify.

Could India Tweak the Laws for Skill Games

Back last year in November there was a court case for the exemption of skill games from India’s gambling ban, but no palpable change has come since then. The defenders argued that skill games should not be treated the same way as traditional casino games like slots, video poker or classic table games. For these are designed to rely less on chance – like the reels of a slot machine, or the physics of a dice roll. But instead, they integrate elements that can be calculated, solved by gamers, and an element of control.

For example, in roulette you are predicting where the ball will land with a clear understanding of the odds, but beyond setting a stake and choosing your bets, you don’t have any impact in the result. A skill game, such as chess, on competitive skill gaming platforms, gives you the control. Chance can play a factor, but it is not the predominant element that determines outcomes. Games like blackjack, video poker and casino poker fall somewhere between the two.

Some believe that the outright ban on gambling can be overturned for these eSports or skill-based games. If so, it means the Indian Gaming Authority would have to give a more detailed definition of pure chance gambling vs skill gambling, looking at key elements such as:

• Peer to peer format gaming with fair skill game conditions
• No house edge or RTP – required in casino-style chance games

And create a separate regulation that could see the return of skill-based games, fantasy sports, and peer to peer style gaming.

Future of India’s Gambling Sector

As things stand, India has some of the strictest anti gambling laws in the world. Even in countries where online casinos are banned, many jurisdictions leave the door open for alternative casino style gaming or skill based gambling through DFS and other games. Outside state run lotteries and the rare exceptions like horse race betting, India doesn’t allow any other type of gambling.

One of the biggest drivers in the argument for eSports and DFS is that India is losing out on a massive revenue source that could be made from legalizing and taxing these platforms. Another area is the battle to keep players from resorting to illegal and black market operators – who serve Indian gamers outside the framework of the law. India’s Gaming Authority will have the chance to take greater control over offshore activity, reinforce the regulatory infrastructure and reshape the sector for Indian customers.

Nothing is written in stone, but now that there is a dedicated gaming authority tasked with the responsibility of building the sector, India is better equipped to draw these blurry lines. Control comes first, naturally as they want to enforce this anti risk taking and pure chance gambling, but afterwards they can add clarity to what exactly comprises a casino gamble, and what could be considered something else – however that thing is defined and framed in the law.