Should India Push for Regulated Online Gambling Instead of a Complete Ban

We can’t deny that India’s current stance on online gambling is fragmented and outdated. Some states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have enforced outright bans. Others like Nagaland and Sikkim allow licensed fantasy sports or casino-style gaming.

More recently, Karnataka proposed setting up a dedicated Online Gaming and Betting Regulatory Authority to monitor the space instead of banning it outright. The rest of India still operates under laws rooted in the Public Gambling Act of 1867 and sections of the IT Act 2000.

There’s growing pressure from gambling stakeholders to either ban or regulate online gambling. But does it make more sense to regulate it instead of banning it completely?

Fragmented Laws aren’t Working

The thing is that even if some states have already banned online gambling, people seem not to care. Just look at how Andhra Pradesh has seen a steady rise in underground betting networks that run through encrypted apps and payment channels that are hard to trace.

In 2023, local police in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada flagged multiple cases involving college students using Telegram groups and UPI-linked wallets to place bets during IPL matches. Many of them weren’t using traditional betting apps either. These were web-based scripts or mirror sites of offshore platforms, and these are often hosted outside India.

Some of these students were even found acting as “runners” for local betting rings. They recruit more people, collect payments, and forward slips to bigger handlers through proxy accounts. Dangerous because these setups are unregulated, unchecked, and invisible to law enforcement, and will likely stay that way until something major goes wrong.

Unfortunately, this isn’t just an AP problem. Similar things have happened in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and even urban hubs like Bengaluru and Delhi. So, what does that tell us? Banning online gambling doesn’t erase demand. It only pushes it to riskier places where players have zero protection.

What Regulation Could Fix

When gambling platforms are regulated, they have to follow set rules. That includes things like KYC checks, deposit limits, responsible gambling tools, and secure payment handling. Players get transparency, the government gets tax revenue, and the platforms are held accountable. You can visit this site to see what a licensed and regulated betting site looks like.

Unregulated platforms, on the other hand, don’t follow any rules. Some run off with your money. Others misuse your data. Many of them promote fake games with rigged odds or offer “guaranteed returns” that don’t exist.

In 2025, the central government classified online real-money games as betting and applied a flat 28% GST on them. This move alone showed how serious the government is about trying to remedy the situation.

Courts have also stepped in and asked states to draft proper laws for digital betting platforms. They’ve also called out the inconsistencies in current frameworks. This is what happened in Uttar Pradesh.

The Allahabad High Court directed the UP government to set up a high‑powered committee led by Prof. K.V. Raju. The committee’s task? Design a legal framework specifically for online gaming and betting, citing the outdated nature of the 1867 Public Gambling Act, which doesn’t cover mobile apps or offshore platforms.

Bans Drive Players to Unsafe Alternatives

Every time a popular app gets banned or blocked, users just switch to another one. Most of these replacements come from third-party APKs that are usually shared via social media or direct download links. They often don’t come with any safety features. Some of them are built to scam new users, especially during popular betting seasons like IPL or the World Cup.

Because they operate outside the law, they can’t be tracked, taxed, or penalized in any real way. That creates a perfect setup for fraud, addiction, and data abuse.

Global Trend Is Regulation, Not Bans

Outside India, the approach to online gambling is changing, and many countries are moving toward oversight instead of prohibition. Why? Because once the activity reaches a certain scale, the only effective way to manage it is to supervise it directly.

India already has one of the biggest betting markets in the world, particularly in cricket betting. Banning everything only forces those users into untraceable spaces. Regulating the platforms instead gives the government control, and most importantly, player protection.

Summary

So, outright bans may sound like a clean solution, but they can just create more problems than they solve. Without regulation, illegal betting platforms will continue to gain the advantage, users will remain unprotected, and the government will miss out on a major opportunity to clean up a fast-growing and lucrative industry.

That said, it makes more sense for India to push for a national regulatory framework that allows for licensed operators, protects users, and holds platforms accountable.