On Wednesday, India’s Information Technology Secretary S. Krishnan stated that the government is considering regulating prediction market platforms. This comes as India is getting ready to launch a thorough framework for the online gaming business on May 1.
There are growing concerns among regulators about the use of apps like Kalshi and Polymarket for betting on election results, the Indian Premier League, and other events.
Even though the Online Gaming Act forbids such platforms, Krishnan pointed out that people are still using VPNs to access them. He acknowledged that differentiating between legal and illegal VPN use is difficult and described “access through VPNs” as a “slightly tricky issue” that they are investigating potential solutions to.
He made the point that the extra-territorial provisions of the law allow for action to be taken against overseas platforms that offer services in India. The Information Technology Act of 2000, Section 69A, allows for the blocking of such platforms.
Aiming to achieve a balance between user protection and industry growth, the new regulatory framework was notified under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. It promotes India as a world leader in digital innovation and gaming while simultaneously protecting users from financial and psychological harm, with a special focus on children and other vulnerable groups.
After lengthy discussions, Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 in August 2025. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) drafted these rules to lay out the framework for putting them into effect.
The establishment of the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator with jurisdiction over categorisation, compliance, complaint handling, and enforcement, is a crucial component of the system.
This fast growing but poorly regulated industry will now have some clarity thanks to the guidelines, which include a system to categorise games as either e-sports, legal social games, or online money games.
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