India has banned online money games. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 prohibits offering them, advertising them and processing payments for them. It also applies to services run from outside India. This is an information page. GiroReal publishes no offers, casino cards or promotions for India, and nothing here is legal advice.
Who the law covers
The Act extends to the whole of India and also applies to online money gaming service offered within the territory of India or operated from outside the territory of India (section 1(2), The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, Gazette of India Extraordinary, p. 3). A site hosted or licensed abroad is therefore not outside its scope.
The Press Information Bureau confirmed on 18 March 2026 that the Government has enacted the Act, and describes it as comprehensively prohibiting all forms of online money games, whether involving games of chance, games of skill, or any combination thereof (Government Enacts Online Gaming Act 2025, Press Information Bureau).
A note on sources: the Gazette file we read (dated 22 August 2025) prints the text as a Bill introduced in Lok Sabha. The penalties quoted below are from that text. The Press Information Bureau’s description of the enacted Act gives the same penalty figures. Section 1(3) leaves the start date to a government notification; we have not read that notification here.
What counts as an “online money game”
Section 2(g) defines it as an online game, irrespective of whether such game is based on skill, chance, or both, played by a user by paying fees, depositing money or other stakes in expectation of winning which entails monetary and other enrichment in return of money or other stakes. E-sports are excluded from the definition.
“Other stakes” covers anything recognised as equivalent or convertible to money, including credits, coins, tokens or objects, real or virtual, bought with money. So the label on the game does not decide the question; the money in and the expectation of money out do.
What the Act prohibits
| Section | What it bans |
|---|---|
| 5 | Offering, aiding, abetting or inducing the offering of an online money game and online money gaming service |
| 6 | Making or causing any advertisement, in any media, that directly or indirectly promotes or induces any person to play an online money game or promotes online money gaming |
| 7 | Banks, financial institutions and any other person facilitating financial transactions or authorising funds towards payment for any online money gaming service |
The advertising ban is broad. It says “in any media, including electronic means of communication”, and it covers promotion done “directly or indirectly”. It also reaches anyone who aids or abets the making of such an advertisement.
Penalties
| Offence | First conviction | Repeat conviction |
|---|---|---|
| Offering an online money gaming service (section 9(1)) | Up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both | Imprisonment of three to five years and a fine of one to two crore rupees |
| Advertising (section 9(2)) | Up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to fifty lakh rupees, or both | Imprisonment of two to three years and a fine of fifty lakh to one crore rupees |
| Facilitating payments (section 9(3)) | Up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to one crore rupees, or both | Imprisonment of three to five years and a fine of one to two crore rupees |
Source for all rows: section 9, Gazette of India Extraordinary, p. 6.
Other provisions in the same text:
- Offences under sections 5 and 7 are cognizable and non-bailable (section 10).
- Where a company commits an offence, the people in charge of the relevant business and the company can be proceeded against (section 11), with defences for lack of knowledge or due diligence and a carve-out for independent and non-executive directors not involved in decisions.
- Information relating to an online money gaming service can be blocked under the Information Technology Act (section 14).
- Officers authorised by the government may investigate, and may enter physical or digital places and search and arrest without a warrant anyone reasonably suspected of an offence (sections 15 and 16).
What it still allows
The Act has chapters promoting e-sports and online social games. An online social game is one that does not involve staking money or other stakes in the expectation of winning money; it may charge a subscription or one-time access fee as long as that is not in the nature of a stake or wager (section 2(1)(i)). The government may also set up an Authority to decide whether a particular online game is an online money game (section 8(2)(a)).
What the penalty lines do and do not say
The offences listed in section 9 are for offering, advertising and facilitating payments. In the sections we read, there is no separate penalty line for a user who plays. That is a reading of the text, not legal advice, and the rules and any court rulings may change. Anyone affected should consult an Indian lawyer.
Why this matters to GiroReal
GiroReal is an affiliate site. Section 6 bans advertising that promotes online money gaming in any media, with a penalty of up to two years or fifty lakh rupees. So GiroReal runs no India-targeted offers or casino promotions, and the site blocks India for casino content. This page is informational only.
Brazil took a similar path in 2026. See our report on Brazil’s ban on online betting.
Content 18+. Operators and affiliates should take their own legal advice for each market.