India’s Supreme Court on Friday, October 17, began hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a complete ban on online gambling operations masquerading as social games and esports. This petition comes just days after the Indian government passed a new law imposing a nationwide ban on online gambling and sports betting.
PIL Seeks a Ban on Online Gambling Operators Averting the Law: Key Insights
- The Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) has filed a PIL before the Supreme Court, requesting that lawmakers include provisions in the new law for banning online gambling operations pretending to be social games.
- India’s new Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which came into effect on October 1, prohibits all forms of real money games and platforms with betting elements.
- The PIL claims that gambling operators continue to offer their services under the guise of esports and social games, using a loophole in the legislation. The plaintiff asks that the top court intervene and resolve the matter.
Urgent Harmonisation of Gambling Regulations Required
The Supreme Court of India is hearing a PIL filed by the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) seeking a blanket ban on online gambling operators functioning under the pretence of social games and esports. The petition, filed on October 13, requests enhanced measures to address the legal loophole in the system.
India passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, on August 21st, 2025, banning all forms of online gambling and sports betting operations that use real money. However, social games and esports, which are designed for entertainment, learning, or public interaction, have been excluded from the prohibition order.
The petitioner claims that while the Indian government has banned more than 1,500 online gambling platforms under the Information Technology (IT) Intermediary Guidelines, operators continue to function under the guise of social games. Identifying and blocking such operators can be challenging, since state governments monitor social games.
The case is being presided over by a two-judge bench comprising Justice KV Vishwanathan and Justice JB Pardiwala. The bench asked the petitioner’s counsels, Virag Gupta and Rupali Panwar, to share a copy of the plea with Chandrashekar Venkataraman, the government’s attorney.
The court noted:
Look into it thoroughly and come back to us.
The PIL names six respondents, including four ministries and two private companies. The list includes the Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, and Youth Affairs and Sports and social app marketplace providers, Google India Pvt Ltd and Apple Inc.
India’s Online Gaming Market Valued at EUR 17Bn Annually
The petition states that most Indian states have banned all forms of gambling. However, offshore online gambling platforms continue to thrive in an unchecked environment. Data suggests that these platforms generate INR 1.8 lakh crore (roughly EUR 17 billion) annually.
The plea reads:
Betting and gambling are regarded as unlawful activities in the majority of the states in India. Several cases are contested in high courts, wherein affidavits are filed by the government and gaming platforms. Upon analysing the same it is reported that more than 65 crore persons are playing such games creating annual business of more than Rs 1.8 lakh crores for these platforms in India.
The petition asks for a complete ban on all unlawful betting and gambling activities under Section 69A of the IT Act. It also seeks that the Supreme Court direct payment services, including Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platforms, to block all gambling-related payments to offshore platforms.
The plea seeks direction for protecting the data of minors that online gaming platforms have already collected. It also asks that the Supreme Court investigate offshore gaming operators through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Interpol, for tax evasion.
Another major concern that the petition raises is celebrities like athletes and actors endorsing such platforms. It states that these promotions encourage addiction, money laundering and cyber fraud through the use of opaque algorithms. India is among a handful of Asian countries that have banned online gambling.
Mongolia recently passed a similar law, banning gambling and sports betting. The Philippines is contemplating taking similar actions. However, lawmakers have decided to study the proposed gambling ban thoroughly, to analyse its financial and social impacts.