Is Online Gambling Legal in India?
No. Online money gaming is banned across India. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 passed the Lok Sabha on 20 August 2025 and the Rajya Sabha on 21 August, and received presidential assent on 22 August 2025. The government notified the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules 2026 in April 2026, and the Act and Rules took effect on 1 May 2026.
The Act prohibits all online money games, whether based on chance, skill or a mix of both, and it applies to offshore operators that serve Indian users. Advertising, promotion and facilitation of online money games are prohibited across all media, banks and payment systems may not process the transactions, and unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information Technology Act 2000. Offering or facilitating online money games carries up to three years in prison and a fine of up to ₹1 crore; repeat offences carry three to five years and fines of ₹1 crore to ₹2 crore; advertising carries up to two years and a fine of up to ₹50 lakh. These penalties are aimed at those who offer, facilitate or advertise the games, and no penalty for players was found.
What India’s Online Gaming Ban Covers, and What Is Still Allowed
The ban removes the old line between games of skill and games of chance. Before 2025, Indian courts and state laws treated many skill games differently from gambling, which is how real-money rummy, poker and fantasy sports platforms grew. Under the 2025 Act, any online game played for money is an online money game and is banned, however much skill it involves.
What remains legal are games without money stakes. The Act recognises and promotes e-sports, which now have a statutory registration regime, and online social games, which the government describes as primarily skill-based entertainment. Online money games cannot be recognised as e-sports. The Online Gaming Authority of India, an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology based in Delhi, publishes the list of online money games, hears user grievance appeals and issues codes of practice.
How International Online Casinos Work for Indian Players
Every casino listed here holds a licence from a regulator outside India, and that licence sets the rules a player can rely on: identity checks, withdrawal limits and the authority a complaint goes to. The Online Gaming Authority of India hears grievance appeals about Indian gaming apps, not about casinos licensed abroad, so for an international casino the route runs to its own regulator. Our guide to online casino licences compares what those regulators require, and licensed versus offshore casinos sets the two models side by side.
Casino Bonuses for Indian Players
Welcome offers on the cards are shown in euros, so their value in rupees moves with the exchange rate. The rollover is the figure that decides what a bonus delivers: a ₹10,000 bonus with a 35x rollover means ₹3,50,000 of bets before it can be withdrawn. Slots usually count in full toward that total, while table and live games often count for less or nothing. Net winnings from online games are taxed in India at 30%, so a bonus that clears pays out less after tax than the figure on the card. To compare rollover, caps and expiry across operators, see the casino bonuses available in India.
The Supreme Court Challenge to the Online Gaming Act
Gaming companies challenged the Act in several High Courts, and on 8 September 2025 the Supreme Court transferred all the challenges to itself. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant is now hearing the case, and in August 2026 it directed all parties to complete their pleadings before final hearings. Industry petitioners argue that a blanket ban violates the right to carry on a lawful trade under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution; supporters of the law say the ban is needed to curb the risks of online gambling. No stay of the Act has been reported, so the ban applies while the case continues.
Do You Pay Tax on Gambling Winnings in India?
Yes. Indian income tax law taxes net winnings from online games at a flat 30%, whether the game is one of skill or of chance, and the benefit of the basic exemption limit does not apply. Since 1 April 2023, tax has been deducted at source at 30% of net winnings when they are withdrawn, or at the end of the financial year if they are not. No deduction is allowed against income from lotteries, puzzles, races, games, gambling or betting. How other countries treat a win is compared in our guide to tax on casino winnings by country.
Land-Based Casinos and Lotteries in India
Offline, gambling in India is a state subject under the Constitution, so each state sets its own rules. Goa and Daman permit regulated land-based casinos under the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act of 1976, and Sikkim licenses casinos in five-star hotels, which is why Goa’s casinos are the best known in the country. Thirteen states run government lotteries, and horse racing is treated separately after the Supreme Court held in 1996 that it is a game of skill.
A Short History of Gambling Law in India
India’s gambling law began with the Public Gambling Act of 1867, a colonial law that made running a public gambling house a crime and still underpins many state laws today. After independence, gambling became a state matter, which produced a patchwork: casinos in Goa and Sikkim, state lotteries in some states and bans in others. The skill-versus-chance distinction let online rummy, poker and fantasy sports build a large real-money industry, until the 2025 Act brought online money gaming under one national ban.
Responsible Gambling and Help in India
India’s free national mental health helpline, Tele-MANAS, is available on 14416 around the clock for anyone struggling with gambling or its effects. Talking to someone early helps, especially if gambling losses are leading to debt. Countries that regulate online gambling often add national self-exclusion registers, and how those registers work shows the alternative approach to a ban.
The Future of Online Gaming in India
The Supreme Court’s decision is the next turning point. If the Act stands, online money gaming stays banned and the market shifts further toward e-sports and free-to-play social games. If parts of it fall, India could move back toward regulating skill games for money. Other countries facing the same question have chosen differently: Brazil banned online betting and casino games in 2026, while New Zealand is opening a licensed online casino market, as our pages on online casinos in Brazil and online casinos in New Zealand describe.
