When analysing gambling law in India, we first need to look at the Public Gaming Act of 1867. The idea was to prohibit gambling houses by law in India and punish participants. Below is a breakdown of the main legislative points of the Public Gaming Act of 1867 in India:
What the Public Gambling Act was designed to regulate
Physical gambling houses in India were outlawed as a response to this act. Visiting a common gaming house could see you arrested, with assets seized, and punishments tied to fines or imprisonment. For years, this predominantly gambling house law prevented operating a gambling establishment or, indeed, visiting one. It still, in large parts, prevents mass land-based gambling in India today in around a dozen states.
What the act prohibits
While some Indian states and union territories have produced their own gambling legislation, states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, alongside Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh, still stick to the 1867 act. These regions make operating a gambling house an offence, visiting a gambling house incurs a penalty, as does keeping a common gaming house.
Why the Act doesn’t clearly cover online betting
Online betting is not defined in the 1867 Act, creating an effective internet-betting legal gap in the law. This is because the act is so old that there was simply no way that gambling on the internet was envisioned at the time. As a result, digital gambling laws in India are absent from the act, and a patchwork at best in other laws, which we’ll touch on.
So, is online betting legal in India? That’s the question. Online betting laws in India are a patchwork of laws. There isn’t a single national online gambling law in India.
No single national licensing framework for online betting
There is no national betting license that India-centric sites can claim, and no Indian betting regulator that is present across the country as a monopoly. However, that doesn’t mean licenses don’t exist. It simply means that each state has the power to issue its own licenses, and that creates a problem - a legal gray area in online betting in India.
The lack of national online betting licensing in India means that what is legal in one state may not necessarily be so in another. With no Indian gambling commission and no central law for online betting, offshore platforms have popped up to cater to Indians without Indian authorisation.
“Not clearly regulated” vs “legal”
Offshore sites effectively operate in a legal gray area. In this case, we’re talking about a legal gray area, meaning that you are legally allowed to play at sites that aren’t technically supposed to accept you. In the battle of not legal vs legal in India, these sites are legal, as Indian law doesn’t apply to offshore (foreign) enterprises; but because of the gray area, joining these sites does sometimes give players legal uncertainty about betting in India.
When you opt to play at “not clearly regulated sites”, you cannot expect adequate player protection, India-centric payment systems, and support that you would otherwise get from an Indian regulated betting site (if one existed). This doesn’t mean that they are untrustworthy, because many still provide such assurances. It simply means that India’s authorities can’t guarantee that these companies will look after you.
Aside from around a dozen states that adhere to the old Public Gambling Act of 1867, gambling is a state subject in India. While not exactly a betting and gambling state list, you can discover exactly what state-wise betting laws in India mean below.
Why state law matters
As touched on, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh always revert to the original 1867 act, rather than exercise their freedom to create state gambling laws in India.
State-wise betting laws in India come in other forms, though. For instance, some states feature mirrored laws. These are state gambling laws in India, but ones that essentially mimic the 1867 act. This is true of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand.
Not all Indian states feature the original gambling law or variations of it. They have utilised the power open to them to carve their own laws, so let’s look at those next.
States with stricter bans on online gambling
Around 15 states have also created their own frameworks. These include states where the local government blocks betting sites in lieu of a blanket betting ban in India. This includes the Telangana online gambling ban, Andhra Pradesh online betting ban, and the Tamil Nadu online gambling law, which also prohibits gambling.
States with regulated models
At the same time, some states are more open and accepting towards gambling, going as far as promoting it, under certain conditions. For instance, the Goa gambling laws regulate sites, you can apply for a Sikkim online betting license, and those sites are financially regulated under the Sikkim Casinos Control and Tax Act.
Meghalaya has its own gambling laws, and you can expect to see Nagaland online gaming license options out there, though it is important to note that the Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill Act (2016) only licenses games of skill — it does not cover sports betting or games of chance, so a Nagaland license does not indicate that a platform is authorised for all forms of real-money gaming.
Why enforcement and interpretation can vary by location
In India, enforcement varies by state depending on whether it is pro and anti-gambling, its religious/societal values, and other aspects. While one Indian state’s interpretation of a gambling law might be strict enough to force bans on operators or ISP blocks, other states might consider breaches to be harmless and only pursue operators who fall foul of the law, not players. Others may go after you, though; this is rare.
Where do offshore bookmakers catering to Indian users fall amongst these various laws?Offshore operators are often licensed (and regulated) with a Malta Gaming license for betting sites, or they could be Curacao licensed betting sites. Either way, they are incorporated and licensed outside India's jurisdiction, which means Indian law has no legal authority over their operations.
Why is it that these international betting sites in India can cater to players? Here’s how offshore betting in India works.
Why offshore platforms are accessible to Indian users
Offshore betting platforms are accessible in India because Indian laws don’t apply beyond its borders. International operators target India because there are so many players for these cross-border betting platforms to win over.
Because Indian laws don’t apply to them, any Indian playing at sites such as these (as long as they don’t live in a state which has outlawed gambling entirely) is technically playing in a legal gray area.
What “licensed abroad” means and what it doesn’t mean in India
While being licensed abroad and not licensed in India has a literal meaning, it also means more than that. Because it has a foreign license and not Indian approval, this means that those sites don’t have to adhere to Indian regulation, including specific player protections. It also means that everything from payment providers and player information to tax rules may differ greatly from what you’d expect to see at a typical Indian regulated betting site, if one existed.
It isn’t just the casino world where uncertainty creeps in. The same is also true when it comes to sports betting and fantasy sports, and the results may surprise you.
For instance, did you know that several court rulings have deemed fantasy sports legal in India? Yes, fantasy cricket is legal in India - a game of skill. However, when it comes to games of skill (fantasy sports) vs games of chance in India, actual sports betting falls into the latter.
To better understand this and why there is sometimes a skill game exemption rule in India, we need to look at how each is defined.
Games of skill vs games of chance
Games of skill are defined in Indian law as games where a player’s knowledge, training, attention, and experience are predominant factors in whether you win or lose. By contrast, a game of chance in Indian law is deemed as a game where luck or a random event is the main factor in deciding who wins.
Section 12 of the Public Gaming Act of 1867 leaves a loophole for this, where it states, “Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Act contained shall be held to apply to any game of mere skill wherever played.” Because of that one line, skill-based gaming legality is assured in India.
Why are fantasy sports treated differently in many states?
Fantasy sports are treated as a skill game in India, a position established through a clear line of court rulings. In the landmark case of Varun Gumber v. Union Territory of Chandigarh (2017), the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that fantasy sports require considerable skill, judgment and discretion — assessing player form, strengths and weaknesses, and managing a virtual budget — and therefore do not constitute gambling.
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against that ruling the same year.
The Bombay High Court reached the same conclusion in Gurdeep Singh Sachar v. Union of India (2019), and the Rajasthan High Court followed suit in 2020, stating the matter was no longer open for debate.
In 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed a further challenge, effectively settling the legal position that fantasy sports, in their current format, are games of skill and not gambling.
Why this does not automatically apply to sports betting?
Sports betting is generally treated as a form of gambling. The recent passing of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 (known as PROGA) has significantly complicated the landscape. The Act, which received Presidential assent in August 2025, places a blanket prohibition on all real-money online gaming - including formats previously recognised as skill-based (fantasy sports).
As of early 2026, PROGA has not yet been formally notified and brought into force, and its constitutional validity is being challenged before the Supreme Court of India.
Taxation of winnings in India is something that varies depending on where you play. At state-licensed sites, it’ll be done for you. At offshore betting sites, it absolutely won’t. Here’s how automatic taxation and taxes at offshore sites work.
How gambling winnings are generally taxed in India
In theory, any state-licensed gambling site in India should apply the TDS rules (winnings taxed at 30%) on betting and winning. The Tax Deducted at Source rule imposes a 30% tax on net gambling winnings from online games in India for each financial year. Of course, while paying gambling winnings tax in India is automatic at those sites, declaring income tax on your betting winnings at offshore sites is down to you, because this isn’t a time when TDS applies.
Instead of withholding and applying a flat rate to your tax winnings, offshore sites just leave you to get on with it. You are supposed to legally add those winnings as part of your income tax (from gambling). Whether everybody does is debatable, of course, even though, legally, you absolutely should.
What TDS means for players
When you play at an Indian sportsbook, TDS is automatically applied by the betting site. This means that 30% of your winnings are automatically dedicated. You don’t have to do anything else in particular: it is paid already by the time you receive your winnings. The site sends a TDS (Form 26Q) Return to the tax authority, and you receive a TDS Certificate (Form 16A). You then declare those winnings (although the tax is already paid) when filing your Income Tax Return (ITR).
Declaring winnings in your tax filing
How you declare your winnings depends on where you play. If you play at an online platform, your winnings are taxed at a flat 30% under Section 115BBJ, introduced by the Finance Act 2023 and applicable from Assessment Year 2024-25. This applies to all online games — skill-based and chance-based alike — with no minimum threshold, and TDS is deducted on your net winnings (total withdrawals minus deposits and opening account balance) under Section 194BA. If you win from offline gambling — such as a physical card game, lottery, horse race, or casino — this falls under the older Section 115BB, which also taxes at 30% but applies only to those specific specified categories. In both cases, you declare your winnings under “Income from Other Sources” in your ITR-2 or ITR-3 return.
The passing of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 (known as PROGA) has significantly complicated the landscape. The Act seeks to prohibit most real-money games in India, though as of early 2026 it has not yet been formally notified and its constitutional validity remains under challenge before the Supreme Court. Here’s what you need to know:
Regulation vs prohibition
Many people want to regulate online betting in India. Proponents of licensing online betting sites in India argue that the benefits of tax revenue, and adequately introducing player protections are a better method of handling the situation than banning players. The latter simply opens them up to “the offshore problem”.
This pattern has been well documented in markets such as the US before federal sports betting reform, and across parts of Europe — when prohibition is chosen over regulation, players typically migrate to offshore platforms rather than stop betting altogether.
Why the legal environment remains uncertain
PROGA was intended to be the most decisive intervention yet against online gambling in India. However, it faces significant hurdles. The Act has not been formally notified — meaning it has not legally come into force — and is subject to constitutional challenges before the Supreme Court. Critics argue that by prohibiting even skill-based real-money games, Parliament may have overstepped into areas reserved for states under the Constitution. Until the Supreme Court rules, the industry remains in a state of regulatory limbo, and the long-term status of PROGA is genuinely uncertain.
As its status is still up for debate, the evolving gambling laws in India are in flux. This fluid environment means that it is important to check regularly for online gaming regulation updates if you’re looking for state-licensed sportsbooks, or opt for the familiarity of legal offshore betting sites.
Is online betting legal in India?
Yes and no. Some states have effectively outlawed it, the PROGA Act tries to do the same, but some states have regulated laws, and foreign sites operate legally from offshore.
Is cricket betting legal in India?
In theory, no. The PROGA Act technically prohibits cricket betting. However, some sites have their own regulated laws, and offshore platforms aren’t subject to India’s latest law.
Can I get into legal trouble for betting online?
Theoretically, no. Most authorities attempt to target the operators, not individuals. This can depend on where you reside, though.
Are offshore betting sites legal in India?
In theory, yes. While there is some debate over whether you can play at them under the PROGA laws, Indian law does not apply to foreign sites. So, you can argue that offshore sites remain in the same legal grey area that they always have.
Is fantasy cricket legal in India?
Yes. Indian courts have consistently ruled that fantasy sports, including fantasy cricket, are legal because they constitute games of skill. This position was established through a line of rulings including Varun Gumber v. Union Territory of Chandigarh (2017) and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2021.
Do I have to pay tax on betting winnings?
Absolutely. Whether under the new online betting laws in India in 2026, or under the existing ones, you should always declare whatever you win to the authorities. Scroll up to find out how.
Is online betting legal in every Indian state?
No. State-wise betting laws are in effect in India, even before the passing of the PROGA law in 2025. Each state has its own take on gambling, while some just follow the Public Gambling Act of 1867.
Are betting winnings taxable in India even if withdrawn to UPI?
Yes. There is always a tax on betting winnings in India, irrespective of the payment method you choose, especially when using UPI, as it leaves a paper trail that can be followed.
