India’s 2025 Online Gaming Ban Drives Surge in Offshore Activity and Tax Losses
India’s August 2025 ban closed a $3.7B regulated market and triggered $556M in Flutter impairments. Offshore migration rose from 68.3% to 82%, daily users from 3.4% to 42.3%, and long sessions from 3.4% to 44%. Potential annual tax losses reached £30.6B.
SCCG Take — Abrupt bans without sustained enforcement expand black-market volume and forgo tax revenue. Regulators must weigh this pattern before pursuing total prohibition in high-demand jurisdictions.
Indian lawmakers enacted a sweeping ban on online real-money gaming on August 22, 2025. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act passed the Lok Sabha by voice vote on August 20 and cleared the Rajya Sabha the following day without debate. The regulated market had generated US$3.7 billion in revenue in 2024.
The ban produced immediate corporate losses. Flutter Entertainment recorded a US$556 million impairment primarily tied to the new law and closed its Junglee Games platform after a US$500 million hit. Former CEO Peter Jackson was replaced by Dan Taylor at the start of this month. Some 400 start-ups generated INR₹22,150 crores, some £1.75 billion (US$2.34bn) annually in taxes and supported 200,000 jobs.
Legacy of Fragmented Regulation
Gambling legislation in India traces to the Public Gambling Act of 1867 passed under British colonial rule, which targeted games of pure chance. Until the 2025 Act, authority rested with the 28 states, producing a fragmented market that proved difficult to police yet attractive to investors. A compound annual growth rate of 28–30 percent had been projected in 2023 research. Ama Aminav, partner at Delhi-based Phoenix Law, wrote that the ban contradicts earlier statutes. “The ban may encourage the very evil the act sets out to eradicate,” argued Aminav. “Global experience teaches that bans fuel black-market activity, driving users to offshore platforms or worse, the dark web.”
Post-Ban Migration Data
Authorities have blocked more than 8,376 gambling and betting platforms. A study by CUTS International found the share of users migrating to offshore sites rose from 68.3 percent to 82 percent. Daily users climbed from 3.4 percent to 42.3 percent. Sessions lasting beyond two hours increased from 3.4 percent to 44 percent. Prior estimates placed annual offshore deposits at INR₹8.2 lakh crore (£64.8 billion), with forgone tax revenue of INR₹3.89 lakh crore (£30.6 billion). Cricket accounted for 80-90 percent of sports betting volume before the prohibition.
These outcomes show prohibition has redirected rather than reduced demand.
Reporting: iGaming Future
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
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