The Centre has stepped-up its crackdown on the illegal online gambling by blocking some 300 websites and mobile applications, which are allegedly involved in illegal gambling and betting activities. The new move has increased the list of outlawed sites to close to 8,400 outlived by the government sources.
The blocked sites have a rich array of offerings including sports betting sites, online casinos with games like slots and roulette, live dealer sites, peer-to-peer betting sites, and standard gambling networks like satta and matka. The crackdown has also targeted several so-called real-money gaming applications that gave players the chance to bet real cash on card-based and casino-like games.
Since the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act was implemented, a large number of these bans have been imposed, nearly 4,900 of them. Introduced into the Parliament on August 21, 2025, the legislation is also supposed to control the online gaming ecosystem and secure the users of the risks that money-based gaming entails.
Ahead of the scale of the problem, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw previously informed the Rajya Sabha that an estimated 45 crore individuals in India have fallen prey to online money games resulting in losses in the tune of 20,000 crore.
Authorities have indicated that the government is still determined to counter the illegal betting activities and provide a safer cyberspace. Authorities are also in close coordination with enforcement bodies and technology platforms to detect and block such websites in a better way as well as encouraging responsible and controlled online gaming.