On 22 April 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 in the Gazette of India (CG-DL-E-22042026-271974). The rules came into force on 1 May 2026. They implement the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA), enacted by Parliament in August 2025 to regulate online money games and support e-sports and online social gaming.
PROGA provides the statutory basis for the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGA). The PROG Rules 2026 constitute the OGA as an attached office of MeitY, with its head office in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The OGA is chaired by the Additional Secretary of MeitY (ex officio) and includes joint-secretary-level representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Financial Services, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the Department of Legal Affairs.
Online gaming operators must register online money games with the OGA before offering them to players in India. The OGA maintains and publishes the list of permissible online money games, handles player grievance appeals, and coordinates with financial institutions and law enforcement agencies for enforcement. B2C operators accepting or disbursing money from players are subject to full OGA oversight under the PROG Rules 2026. B2B game providers supplying games to operators also face registration obligations. E-sports platforms and online social gaming services without money stakes face a lighter-touch regime.
The PROG Rules 2026 operate alongside state-level gaming legislation, including states that maintain separate prohibitions on online gambling. The interaction between central OGA registration and state-level prohibitions creates open compliance questions for operators with national user bases. The rules do not address offshore operators, geo-blocking requirements, or advertising restrictions on online money games; those remain items for future MeitY guidance.
Licentium advises on online gaming regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. Work we undertake includes PROGA licensing and registration analysis for operators entering India, compliance mapping for online money game classifications, and dual-regulation assessments for B2B and B2C gaming clients operating across central and state-level regimes.