Indian government blocks 300 illegal gambling sites
The Indian government has banned 300 sites and mobile apps as part of a crackdown on illegal gambling, enforcing rules that came into effect last year, as reported by The News Mill.
The action, announced on 31 January, includes platforms offering sports betting, casino-style games, and peer-to-peer betting exchanges.
Officials said the crackdown also extends to the Satta and Matka lottery networks, as well as real-money card and casino gaming applications. About 8,400 websites have been blocked, 4,900 of which were taken down soon after the passage of the Online Gaming Act.
Earlier this year, officials said that 242 illegal betting and gambling websites were taken down. At that time, the government said the measures were intended to curb unregulated online betting and address risks associated with such platforms.
The bill, passed in August last year, established rules for regulating igaming.
Authorities say that the law is designed to address concerns around financial losses, addiction, and misleading practices associated with certain online gaming platforms.
It coincides with growing international concern about gaming-related harm, with the World Health Organization classifying gaming disorders as a recognized health condition.
This month, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police removed 124 social media accounts that were found to have been promoting illegal gambling sites.
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The Backstory
How India’s sweeping blocks fit a larger policy arc
India’s latest move to bar hundreds of offshore betting and casino-style platforms caps a year of tightening rules meant to pull a sprawling, gray online market into a regulated frame. The government’s stance has hardened since lawmakers set national standards for online gaming last summer, followed by rounds of enforcement that accelerated through late 2024 and into early 2025. Officials have framed the action as a public health and consumer protection measure, citing risks from addiction, aggressive marketing and fraud, and they have trained scrutiny on social channels that amplify unlicensed operators.
The crackdown is also administrative. Authorities have leaned on mechanisms to block domains and app distribution, signaling they will keep squeezing at the infrastructure that routes Indian users to unregulated sportsbooks, casino games and peer-to-peer betting exchanges. Police units, including cybercrime teams, have extended that effort to social media, where affiliate marketers often direct traffic to illegal sites.
Even as regulators step up blocks, they face the core challenge that drives many enforcement regimes worldwide: offshore operators can rebrand and relaunch quickly. That constant churn is pushing India toward more systemic guardrails that make it harder to move money in and out of illicit apps.
Follow the money: AML obligations loom
New compliance duties could be the pivot point. The Finance Ministry has moved to bring real-money gaming companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a step that would force operators to implement tighter know-your-customer checks and report suspicious activity. If adopted fully, the plan outlined in India’s proposal to strengthen AML reporting rules for gambling firms would align online gaming with banks and other financial intermediaries that already file to the Financial Intelligence Unit – India.
The logic is straightforward: if unlicensed sites rely on opaque payment channels and mule networks to move wagers and payouts, then expanding reporting entities and clarifying obligations could starve bad actors of liquidity. It would also raise the bar for domestic operators seeking legitimacy, reinforcing a compliance perimeter that complements domain and app blocks. The compliance burden will not be light, especially for smaller firms, but the trade-off is clearer visibility into flows that have been hard to police.
For consumers, AML coverage can translate into stronger identity verification and transaction monitoring, which regulators view as essential to curb fraud and problem gambling. For the industry, it sets expectations that legal operators must meet to remain onshore and invest for growth.
Global parallels: blocking orders as a frontline tool
India’s playbook mirrors approaches overseas where regulators have treated access-blocking as a primary deterrent, then paired it with market pressure to push illegal firms out. In Australia, the communications regulator has used rolling directives to internet service providers since 2019, most recently ordering blocks on four brands in April. As detailed in the ACMA’s move to block four illegal gambling sites, authorities stress that unlicensed platforms typically lack responsible gambling protections and basic customer safeguards.
The cadence is relentless by design. A separate update on seven additional online gambling sites blocked by the ACMA shows how the campaign has accumulated scale: more than one thousand sites blocked since 2019 and about 220 services exiting the market under enforcement pressure. Yet Australia’s own industry data suggests an offshore market still around 15% of total wagering, underscoring the limits of blocking alone and the need for financial-system controls and public education.
These parallels illuminate India’s likely next steps. Expect continued waves of technical blocks, a push to deputize more intermediaries in payments and app distribution, and louder warnings to consumers that “too good to be true” offers often signal zero recourse if funds vanish.
Legal crosscurrents: recouping losses in Washington, DC
A different enforcement frontier is emerging in the United States, where private litigants are testing centuries-old statutes to claw back gambling losses. In Washington, DC, a Delaware firm has invoked the Statute of Anne, an 18th century English law, to sue major sportsbooks for recovery of customer losses. The gambit, explored in DC lawmakers’ review of a 300-year-old gambling law, could expose operators to significant restitution claims if courts agree the law applies to modern sports betting.
Operators are fighting back. Flutter’s FanDuel is seeking to dismiss the case, with the DC attorney general arguing that subsequent legislation authorizing sports wagering renders the old statute irrelevant. That posture is detailed in FanDuel’s bid to toss the Statute of Anne lawsuit. Lawmakers may also step in to clarify the code and shut off the theory before it reaches trial. The episode is a reminder that legalization brings its own legal risks and that post-launch rulemaking can reshape liabilities.
For India’s regulators, the DC fight is instructive: clean statutory language matters. As India builds a national framework layered atop state-level prohibitions and permissions, clarity on definitions—what counts as a game of skill, how wagers are treated, which entities are covered for AML and consumer protection—will help avoid litigation that can muddy enforcement.
Why the stakes are rising
The scale of India’s online wagering audience, the velocity of cricket-linked betting and the ubiquity of mobile payments make the country a prime target for offshore sites. Enforcement is not only about addiction and misleading promotions; it is also about tax leakage, data protection and the integrity of digital payments. Regulators want licensed operators with verifiable KYC, audit trails and responsible gaming programs that can be supervised—and sanctioned—when things go wrong.
Internationally, the trend line is clear: jurisdictions are converging on a mix of technical blocks, licensing pressure and financial surveillance. Australia shows that persistence can shrink the illegal footprint, even if it does not erase it. The DC litigation shows the flip side of legalization—expanded civil exposure if lawmakers leave gaps ripe for creative claims.
India’s path will hinge on execution: keeping pace with domain hopping, aligning federal and state measures, and bringing more intermediaries—ad networks, payment gateways, app stores—into the compliance chain. The coming months will reveal whether AML expansion and continued site takedowns can meaningfully dent an agile, offshore industry.
What to watch next
Several signposts will indicate whether the crackdown is biting. First, look for formal notification that online gaming firms are designated reporting entities under the PMLA, which would trigger fresh KYC and reporting obligations. Second, expect more coordinated actions with cybercrime units against affiliate marketing on social platforms. Third, track whether payment flows to known operators are disrupted, a signal that intermediaries are cooperating or under new directives.
Abroad, continued ACMA blocks will offer a benchmark for the effectiveness of sustained ISP orders and public awareness campaigns. In DC, court rulings or legislative fixes around the Statute of Anne will shape how far private plaintiffs can reach into sportsbook revenues, a precedent other U.S. jurisdictions may study. Together, these threads frame India’s campaign not as an isolated sweep but as part of a broader recalibration of how governments police online gambling at scale.
