‘The easy accessibility of offshore online gambling platforms to Indian users is a serious public concern’
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The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, was passed with the objective to “protect individuals, especially youth and vulnerable populations, from the adverse social, economic, psychological and privacy-related impacts” of online games involving money. As growing evidence of their impact emerges, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Act is proving counterproductive. Early studies suggest that the use of offshore online betting and gambling platforms has risen since the ban. Following the implementation of the PROG Act in October 2025, users quickly shifted from regulated domestic websites to illegal offshore platforms.Rise in offshore platform useAn even more worrying consequence is that these platforms not only circumvent domestic laws but may also become channels for money laundering and terror financing. Several reports and surveys conducted after the ban suggest that offshore platform usage has risen sharply. A study by CUTS International found a significant increase in offshore participation after the implementation of the PROG Act — from 68.3% to 82% in Delhi NCR, 67.8% to 83% in Tamil Nadu, and 66.7% to 91.7% in Maharashtra.In Tamil Nadu, 67.8% of users reported using offshore platforms before the ban, often alongside domestic real-money gaming platforms. After the ban, this rose to 83%, involving the use of offshore platforms, marking an increase of 15.2 percentage points. This increase reflects a net behavioural shift of 15.2% toward offshore platforms, driven by a larger number of respondents starting offshore use after implementation of the PROG Act than those discontinuing it.This is not a new phenomenon. Across industries, paternalistic bans rarely change consumer behaviour; they merely push users toward underground and more volatile channels. Products which are not physical in nature face an even deeper challenge, as users can quickly shift through VPNs and private links, making effective regulation and consumer protection far more difficult.A case for strong regulationIn the recently concluded Budget parliamentary session, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reported to the Lok Sabha that the Centre had blocked 8,376 URLs to combat the financial irregularities and cybercrime havoc being caused by illegal offshore betting networks. Despite this, media reports continue to allude to suicides linked to illegal online betting traps even after the ban. It is therefore crucial to recognise the scale of the problem and reconsider whether strong regulation may be more effective than an outright ban.Illegal operators use technologically advanced evasion tactics, including virtual private networks (VPN), proxy servers and encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram, to ensure seamless access and transactions. By the time authorities block one domain, users are often shifted to mirror sites with little disruption. The widespread use of VPNs also masks user locations, weakening geographic restrictions.When users shift to offshore platforms, domestic authorities face significant limitations in ensuring consumer protection and grievance redress. The easy accessibility of offshore online gambling platforms to Indian users is therefore a serious public concern.A recent inter-State online gambling and fraud racket that came to light in my constituency in Tamil Nadu — Sivaganga — in February this year involved a fraudulent “Old Coin Purchase Task” promoted on Telegram, in which the accused lured victims into investing money in fake old-coin bidding schemes by promising high returns. They also procured “mule accounts” by persuading villagers in Sivaganga, Paramakudi and Kalayarkovil to open bank accounts in exchange for small payments, which were then used to divert the proceeds of the crime.Examples from overseasLooking at other jurisdictions offers useful perspectives on responding to the rise of offshore platforms. The United Arab Emirates, despite its long-standing prohibition, moved in 2023 to establish a tightly controlled federal licensing framework with strict compliance requirements, deposit limits and harm-prevention safeguards, partly to address the risks posed by unregulated offshore activity. Sri Lanka is now moving in a similar direction, with a centralised Gambling Regulatory Authority expected to become operational by June 2026 to consolidate oversight and bring offshore online activity within a clear domestic framework.The emerging lesson is that the real policy choice is rarely between permitting and banning. It is between creating a regulated domestic framework with accountability and consumer safeguards, or allowing the space to be dominated by offshore operators beyond domestic oversight. Addressing this menace requires sustained coordination between the Centre and State governments. As the evidence suggests, a blanket ban is unlikely to work in the long run. Instead, policymakers should reconsider and test a regulated framework within a controlled environment.This would enable policymakers to better understand and address the challenges posed by offshore operators, while also generating tax revenue from a regulated ecosystem. These revenues could then be reinvested in strengthening offshore monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, as well as funding player-awareness campaigns — an approach adopted successfully in several western countries.Karti P. Chidambaram is Member of Parliament, Congress party, (Sivaganga), Tamil Nadu Published - May 22, 2026 12:08 am IST
