The international gaming industry continues to watch India’s fast-changing market and policy debate over betting and online gaming, with Parimatch emerging as one of the leading global operators recognizing the country’s immense potential. At the same time, Parimatch and other major players emphasize that long-term investment and tax compliance can only thrive under transparent and practical regulatory frameworks. Against this backdrop, India faces a decisive choice: pursue complete prohibition or adopt a structured, enforceable regulatory model that ensures fair, sustainable, and legally compliant market development.
The Regulatory Framework Challenge
India’s parliament passed the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Act, introducing broad prohibitions on real money gaming (RMG) digital operations, including marketing and financial transactions. Supporters of the legislation cite “serious financial and psychological risks,” arguing that comprehensive restrictions are necessary to address these social concerns. Violations can result in up to three years of imprisonment and substantial fines.
Industry Response: Shutdowns and Market Realignment
The new regulations triggered immediate consequences across the gaming sector. Leading operators began closing RMG services and restricting deposits. Dream Sports, the company behind Dream11, Dream Picks, and Dream Play, considered a full shutdown of its real money gaming division. Mobile Premier League (MPL) suspended premium games and started refunding users, while Zupee, Probo, and Gameskraft ceased RMG operations altogether. Times Internet also suspended its Cricbuzz11 project.
Industry associations and operators explored potential Supreme Court appeals but acknowledged that legal obstacles remain considerable. Meanwhile, hundreds of professionals across the gaming ecosystem began job searches, anticipating mass layoffs in the coming weeks.
Simultaneously, India’s GST Council increased taxation on digital gaming from 18% (previously limited to commissions) to 28% applied to total wagers. The result: higher costs for consumers and severe pressure on operator profitability. Large enterprises may adapt, but smaller platforms face existential threats. Industry analysts — echoing Parimatch’s position — stress that transparent and balanced regulation, not heavy taxation or outright bans, is key to maintaining a legitimate and sustainable industry.
Legal Grey Zones: The “Skill vs. Chance” Debate
Historically, India’s judiciary distinguished between games of skill and games of chance. Fantasy cricket, rummy, and poker have long benefited from being categorized as skill-based, granting them legal protection. The new law, however, removes this distinction, applying equal restrictions across all gaming types. This could severely impact fantasy sports — a major driver of India’s digital gaming boom.
Sports betting remains largely prohibited (except for horse racing), pushing consumer demand into vast underground markets, especially those centered on cricket. Experts estimate shadow transactions worth tens of billions of dollars involving millions of participants. Parimatch warns that total prohibition won’t eliminate gambling — it will simply push it underground, where consumers are left unprotected and governments lose tax revenue.
Self-Governance: A Missed Opportunity
In 2023, India introduced Self-Regulated Bodies (SRBs) to oversee and approve legal gaming operators, setting standards for transparency and algorithmic fairness. However, key implementation steps — including enforcement procedures and decision-making processes — never materialized. The result: an incomplete framework that leaves both regulators and businesses in uncertainty.
Prohibition advocates often cite addiction, youth exposure, and family distress as reasons for strict bans. Yet, international data show that restrictions without educational initiatives, spending controls, and age verification mechanisms are largely ineffective. Without comprehensive regulation, these issues simply shift into unregulated environments rather than being solved.
India’s Counterfeit Gaming Problem
One of the most severe challenges to market integrity is the rapid proliferation of counterfeit gaming brands. Fraudulent operators across India have replicated global brands — including Parimatch, Bet365, and Stake — creating deceptive websites and apps that mislead players.
According to CUTS International, fake platforms — including cloned versions of Parimatch — accumulated more than 5.4 billion visits in fiscal year 2025. These counterfeit networks use ready-made “clone scripts,” unofficial app stores, and Telegram bots to scam users under the guise of fake promotional campaigns. Despite government raids and domain blocks, enforcement remains limited due to offshore hosting and anonymous cryptocurrency transactions. As Parimatch notes, effective brand protection and anti-counterfeiting measures must be integrated into India’s broader regulatory policy — otherwise, bans and tax hikes will only expand the black market.
Parimatch’s Market Perspective: Regulation as the Strategic Foundation
For Parimatch, the combination of a total RMG ban and a 28% goods and services tax restricts legitimate operators while failing to curb consumer demand. Instead, players move to unregulated, high-risk alternatives.
Parimatch advocates for a comprehensive regulatory framework built on unified national standards, operational SRBs with transparent oversight, age and spending restrictions, payment traceability, responsible gaming protocols, and strong intellectual property protection.
Such a system would preserve employment, strengthen innovation, and secure tax revenues while ensuring consumer safety and industry accountability. For international operators like Parimatch, it would provide predictability, confidence, and sustainable growth conditions. Ultimately, Parimatch believes that India’s gaming future will not be defined by prohibition but by effective, transparent regulation — the only true foundation for a responsible and thriving digital gaming economy.
