2 months ago
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The Centre has blocked astir 300 websites and applications for allegedly moving amerciable gambling and betting operations, taking the full fig of prohibited websites truthful acold to astir 8,400, according to authorities sources.
The banned entities see sports betting portals, casino platforms offering slots and roulette, unrecorded trader tables, betting exchanges functioning similar peer-to-peer betting marketplaces, “satta/matka” gambling networks, and “real-money” cards and casino crippled applications.
A bulk of specified platforms, adjacent to 4,900, person been blocked aft the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act came into unit past year. The instrumentality passed by Parliament connected August 21, 2025, is aimed astatine shielding citizens from the menace of online wealth games portion promoting and regulating different kinds of online gaming activities.
“This authorities is designed to curb addiction, fiscal ruin and societal distress caused by predatory gaming platforms that thrive connected misleading promises of speedy wealth. It reflects the Government’s resoluteness to safeguard families portion guiding the integer system towards harmless and constructive growth,” the authorities had earlier said.
It said that the World Health Organisation classifies gaming upset arsenic a wellness information successful its International Classification of Diseases, describing it arsenic a signifier of play marked by nonaccomplishment of control, neglect of different regular activities, and persistence contempt harmful consequences.
Earlier, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha that arsenic per an estimate, 45 crore radical were negatively affected by online wealth games and faced a nonaccomplishment of implicit ₹20,000 crore.
The authorities besides recovered that immoderate gaming platforms were being utilized for panic financing and amerciable messaging, which compromises the country’s security.
The Information & Broadcasting Ministry had issued advisories successful 2022, 2023, and 2024 to media platforms, advertisers, and influencers, cautioning against publishing oregon promoting misleading online betting advertisements.
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, amended successful April 2023, laid down norms for online gaming platforms, aimed astatine ensuring online gaming intermediaries did not stock unlawful oregon amerciable contented connected their networks. Section 69A of the IT Act empowers the authorities to artifact entree to amerciable websites oregon links.
Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 111 penalises unlawful economical activities, and cybercrimes and Section 112 prescribes punishment for unauthorised betting and gambling. Offenders look a minimum of 1 twelvemonth imprisonment, extendable up to 7 years, on with fines.
Illegal and offshore gaming platforms are regulated nether the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act. Online wealth gaming suppliers are required to registry nether the Simplified Registration Scheme. The Directorate General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence is authorised to nonstop intermediaries to artifact entree to unregistered oregon non-compliant gaming platforms.
