India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 on 22 April 2026. The Rules took effect on 1 May 2026 and give operational force to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROG Act), enacted by Parliament in August 2025. The PROG Act and the 2026 Rules apply to online gaming services offered to users within India, including services provided from outside India.
Section 7 of the PROG Act constitutes the Online Gaming Authority of India as a statutory body corporate with regulatory, licensing, and oversight powers over the sector. The Act prohibits online money gaming in all forms under Section 2, defined as games in which players place stakes with an expectation of winning. Rule 4 of the 2026 Rules requires operators of non-money online games to register those games with the Authority before offering them to Indian users. Under Section 16 of the Act, banks and financial institutions must not process payments for unregistered or prohibited online gaming services.
Online gaming operators with Indian users, whether incorporated in India or abroad, must comply with the PROG Act and 2026 Rules from 1 May 2026. Operators offering non-money games must register each qualifying game with the Online Gaming Authority before continuing or commencing operations. Operators currently offering real-money games must restructure their services or exit the Indian market. Payment service providers face direct liability if they continue processing transactions for non-compliant services. IP rights holders in registered game titles gain a distinct commercial advantage in a market now gated by regulatory approval.
The Act distinguishes between prohibited online money gaming and registrable non-money games. E-sports determined purely by skill and recognised under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 are carved out from the money gaming prohibition. Operators challenging the constitutional validity of the PROG Act in state courts may encounter interim relief, but MeitY enforcement against non-registered services is active from 1 May 2026 pending any court order.
Licentium advises online gaming and interactive entertainment operators on regulatory compliance, licensing strategy, and market entry across jurisdictions, including India. Contact us to discuss your exposure. Work we undertake includes India market entry legal analysis under the PROG Act and 2026 Rules, game registration strategy, payment provider compliance structuring, cross-border risk assessment for operators already serving Indian users, and gaming licensing pathway analysis across regulated markets.