Government Crackdown on Illegal Online Casinos in India: Latest Developments
In our previous article, we explored the growing importance of cybersecurity in Indian online casinos, shedding light on recent data breaches and how players can stay protected. Today, we take a closer look at another urgent issue facing the iGaming industry – the government crackdown on illegal online casinos.
This article covers the latest developments in India’s fight against unauthorised gambling platforms. From enforcement actions and new regulations to blacklisted sites and legal consequences, we examine how authorities are responding – and what it means for both players and operators. If you’re playing online in India, knowing which casinos are legal and secure is now more important than ever.
The Indian casino industry is on a rapid rise, with thousands of players joining numerous casino platforms every month. In the last few years, the online casino industry has become mainstream and gained national attention.
Due to such heavy demand for casino gaming platforms, several illegal casino platforms have started operating in India, posing a huge risk to the safety and financial security of the users.
Therefore, to safeguard user safety and interest, the Indian government is actively banning and crackingdown illegal and unauthorised casino gaming platforms in India.
The Directorate General of GST intelligence and cybercrime units are working together to eliminate any risky and illegal casino platforms operating in India.
There are several reasons for these illegal casino gambling sites to be banned. In this article, we will explore the latest developments regarding the government crackdown on illegal online casinos in India.
Over 1,500 Online Gambling Platforms Shut Down
The Indian government publicly announced in 2025 that 1,524 online gambling, betting, and casino gaming platforms and mobile applications were successfully banned between 2022 and June 2025.
All these ban orders were initiated under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the IGST Act. They allow the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) and cybercrime units to instruct relevant intermediaries to block access to these illegal and unregulated sites.
Most of these platforms do not have any adequate permissions or licensing to operate in India. Moreover, they do not comply with India’s 28% GST and local laws.
These illegal platforms are operated from offshore locations to evade paying taxes or complying with local laws. This creates a grey zone where these platforms operate unregulated.
And, any kind of scams or frauds can go unreported or unnoticed due to them being operating outside the reach of local jurisdiction.
The Indian government is continuing to develop further capabilities and partnerships with relevant agencies and advisories to limit more illegal and unlawful casino gaming in the country.
Role of DGGI, IT Act & IGST Rules
The Indian government’s recent ban on illegal and unauthorised online casino platforms is made possible due to a robust and flexible legal structure combining provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Act.
These ACTs allow the central government to have full authority over their actions of banning these platforms. They can take quick action without any legal bottlenecks.
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) is crucial in allowing effective enforcement of these provisions. It acts as the major investigative and enforcement wing.
It detects unregistered or unlawful online casino platforms that are trying to evade the GST mandate and regulatory compliance.
After having confirmed their violations, the DGCI then notifies the internet intermediaries to place a ban on these particular websites. Thus, users from India won’t be able to access them directly. They would need a VPN or proxy.
Meanwhile, the IT Act allows the necessary legal guidelines, empowering the agencies to block any digital platforms that pose a security risk to public order or violate any pre-existing laws.
On the other hand, the IGST ACT allows the Indian government to tax even the offshore casino platforms operating and earning from Indian users.
However, all these legal frameworks, when combined, still allow certain loopholes using which offshore operators can bypass the local laws and operate in the country.
Taxation & AML Regulations
Since casino gaming platforms are getting immensely popular among the masses in India, the central government is seeing it as a cash flow from which they extract tons of tax money.
The central government is doubling down on both financial and legal pressures on the online casino platform by utilizing a ruthless merger of tax laws and anti-money laundering reforms.
This drastic shift can be best judged with the announcement of a flat 28% GST on the complete value of online gaming transactions. This rate is uniform and is enforced on all platforms, whether they are termed as games of chance or skill.
28% GST is the highest slab in the GST guideline, causing severe financial losses and compliance charges for the casino gaming platforms.
Meanwhile, a whopping 30% TDS is also deducted on the net winnings of a user. It allows any large winnings to be taxed immediately before even withdrawing.
The government claims that all these regulations are set in place to eliminate any unauthorized gambling activity.
Moreover, the central government has also shifted several of the major online casino platforms to the ‘reporting entities’ under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
It means that all these casino platforms require KYC verification, accurate reporting of any suspicious financial activity, and will need to retain the transaction records of all users.
Overall, the dual method of high taxes and strict reporting completely tightens the grip over legal platforms while also eliminating the risks of any illegal online casino gaming platforms.
Their ability to evade local taxes and laws has been reduced by many folds and they are not able to exploit the loopholes anymore.
Limits on Gambling Promotion
The central government has also enforced strict regulations and measures to limit gambling-related ads. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has issued strict advisories to limit the promotion of casino platforms across all mediums such as digital, offline and print.
However, many casino platforms are still running fierce advertising campaigns despite these warnings. They are using surrogate ads and disguised ads to promote themselves to the masses.
For that reason, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations have now expanded their monitoring to all big tech and digital platforms that are allowing such gambling ads to run on their platform.
This is a great approach to prohibit any promotion of casino platforms, as it is a major cause of the sustenance of illegal online casino networks in India.
Both the advertisers and the intermediary platforms must be held accountable if the network of illegal online casino platforms is to be crushed.
Final Words
The rise in crackdowns on illegal online casino sites is a remarkable step taken by the Indian government to enforce its regulations and protect user interests.
By utilizing effective enforcement under the IT Act, IGST Act, GST reforms, and proposed PMLA provisions, the government is constantly working on eliminating any loopholes and preventing offshore casino platforms from exploiting them.
