Mumbai’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at 17 locations in six states as part of an investigation into Cyprus-based Parimatch’s illegal betting operations.
...
India blocks 8,376 URLs linked to unlicensed gambling
On April 1, 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India revealed that, until March 28, 2026, 8,367 websites connected to online betting and gambling were blocked in the country.
The ministry has stated that around 4,800 of the blocked websites were also shut down based on the Online Gaming Act of 2025, which is the main measure against iGaming in India.
India has additional laws to prevent illegal platforms from offering their services to citizens, like the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita of 2023, which criminalizes illegal betting and gambling with fines and prison sentences of 1 to 7 years. There’s also the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, imposing a 28% rate and blocking unregistered websites through the Directorate General of GST Intelligence.
However, studies have shown that the usage of illegal websites has increased since the bans, with numbers showing a rise from 68.3% to 82%. The monthly spending of users has also increased, with daily access jumping from 3.4% to 42.3%. Another study in January 2026 reported that there was a 15.2% rise in offshore platform usage after the ban.
The actions of the government show that the enforcement against illegal online gambling continues; however, blocking URLs has proven insufficient, as operators are still finding ways to reach Indian citizens.
The government of India has introduced new restrictive measures against prediction markets by blocking local users’ access to Polymarket’s website.The decision to impose...
