These days, online gambling and the case for restrictions on it, are a hot topic all over the globe, but nowhere more so than in India. There, business in that field had, until recently, been booming, with projections promising a massive expansion.
However, recent legislative changes have reversed that, jeopardizing the future of the industry and throwing customers into disarray. History has shown that such bans are counterproductive and this case is unlikely to be an exception.
The Legislation
In August 2025, the Indian Parliament passed a new law banning all kinds of online chance-based real-money gaming, including online gambling, sports betting, poker, card games, and even some types of fantasy sports apps.
On August 21st, both houses of the Bhāratīya Saṁsad, India’s legislative body, passed The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, eventually signed into law by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The law doesn’t merely ban such activities, but goes as far as criminalizing them. Offenders caught offering real-money games face the prospect of up to five years imprisonment.
The main arguments in defense of the bills put forward by PM Modi’s cabinet included large annual customer losses and links of the industry to addiction, money laundering, and terrorism. The ban comes as the Indian sports betting market was valued at almost $7 billion as of 2024 and was estimated to reach $17 billion by 2033.
Initial Reactions
The consequences of this new policy were significant and affected everyone connected to the industry, a fact acknowledged by senior officials from an early stage.
Just a few weeks after the vote in New Delhi, experts warned that the ban was likely to open the door for an underground black market. For instance, Viren Hemrajani, a Mumbai-based analyst in the field, stated that not only will people find a way to get “the dopamine hit” through offshore and illegal sites, but also that the legislation will lead to spikes in fraud and scams.
A report by CUTS International has confirmed the aforementioned fears. According to the publication, offshore gambling skyrocketed to “as high as 82% in Delhi NCR, 83% in Tamil Nadu, and 92% in Maharashtra”. It also noted that, especially among young people, “a significant number of gamers with low incomes are also playing on offshore sites, which do not offer any grievance redressal options or are not regulated.” In other words, what should have been ex-customers actually became less-protected, higher-risk black-market customers.
Such a drastic change in existing legislation also damages individuals’ ability to plan on the micro level. The Indian national cricket team is a fitting example of this. It was forced to find a new jersey sponsor after ditching their signed deal with fantasy sports provider Dream11, which stood to lose over 90% of its revenue due to the new law.
Lastly, the bill had repercussions even outside of India. That came in the face of the very intriguing case of the European Cricket Network. Because cricket is not very popular in Europe, and mainly relies on interest among the Indian diaspora, the bulk of its funding came from the sale of betting rights to Indian bookmakers, primarily to Dream11.
Since gambling partners were no longer an option, the ECN, the highest level of cricket competition in mainland Europe, now entered a significant existential crisis. The organization entered 2026 without a schedule for play or a plan for survival. Four months later, and after a few successful steps to stop the bleeding, it has only, as of the time of writing, run events in Spain, Portugal, and Malta.
Why Bans Are Not the Solution
The Indian Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill comes at an intriguing moment in time when the topic is as hot as possible outside of the Indian subcontinent. From Eastern Europe to North America, and everywhere else in-between, the idea of restricting people’s access to real-money games has divided experts and voters alike.
Each of the reasons put forward by the legislation’s defenders is very flawed. Most striking is the Indian government’s claim that 450 million citizens lose $2.3 billion annually. That might sound like a staggering figure. However, a more detailed calculation shows this is less than $0.50/month per person. Even in an economy like India’s, that figure is insignificant.
There are far more money-, time-, or effort-consuming hobbies that people take up all the time. Now, it is true that gambling is very addictive, but, like other forms of entertainment, in smaller quantities and sums, this can be neutralized. And looking at the most expensive or the most destructive activities, gambling is neither (until chronic states are reached, of course).
However, considering the already-stated effects of black markets, it might be on its way to becoming one of the most dangerous activities if governments move to ban it and thrust it into the black market.
From a moral point of view, that line of thinking also falls short. Guardianship by prohibition (also known as paternalism), when it comes to matters of personal habits, unhealthy or otherwise, is only fictive. People ought to be free to try different activities – as long as they don’t harm other individuals – and learn which ones are dangerous (and more importantly, the extent beyond which they are so) by observation and/or experience. Power that decides for people what is positive and negative is arbitrary, and a world in which humans are protected from their own emotions is a Huxleyan utopia..
By the same logic, we ought to ban a lot more – alcohol, cigarettes, online non-money games, pornography, etc. And we already know how that ended in the 1930s in the United States during Prohibition.
Photo credit: Photo by Niek Doup on Unsplash
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This piece reflects the author’s views, not necessarily the entire magazine. We welcome a range of pro-liberty perspectives. Send us your pitch or draft.
