India’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a crucial constitutional challenge against the nationwide ban on online real-money games, setting the stage for a decisive legal test of the country’s online gaming regulations amid broader industry setbacks.
India’s Supreme Court has opened the door to a final constitutional hearing on the country’s nationwide ban on online real-money games, setting up a decisive test of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, which came into force on May 1, 2026.
The challenge, led by Dr K A Paul, argues that the law goes too far by treating games of skill such as poker the same as games of chance. Petitioners say that a blanket prohibition on real-money play may clash with constitutional protections for lawful trade and business.
The bench is also expected to hear a public interest petition from the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change, which wants the federal government to take stronger action against online gambling platforms it says are disguising themselves as social gaming and esports. According to the group’s lawyers, authorities have not acted on its complaints despite earlier court directions issued in October last year, and details of about 2,000 gambling apps were previously submitted to the court.
The upcoming hearing comes after a string of major judicial setbacks for the industry. In May, the Supreme Court upheld the government’s retrospective 28% goods and services tax on online gaming companies and, in a separate ruling, backed the power of state governments to ban online money gaming within their borders. Earlier this year, the court also consolidated challenges to the new central law, moving all pending petitions from high courts to itself, leaving the apex court as the sole forum for constitutional review.
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