The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Friday a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a nationwide prohibition on online gambling and betting platforms that allegedly operate under the guise of social and e-sports games.
A bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran took note of the submissions of advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for the petitioner Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC), and agreed to list the matter for hearing on October 17.
The PIL, filed on October 13, seeks directions to the Union Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, and Youth Affairs and Sports to harmoniously interpret the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 along with state laws to prohibit gambling and betting platforms disguised as online games.
The petition names Apple Inc. and Google India Pvt. Ltd. as respondents, along with the four ministries. It is filed through advocates Virag Gupta and Rupali Panwar, and represents former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh and Shourya Tiwari from CASC.
The PIL describes the unchecked expansion of online gaming as a “national crisis”, claiming that over 65 crore people are engaged in such games in India, generating an annual business of more than ₹1.8 lakh crore. According to the plea, about half of India’s population is playing online games, which is having a devastating impact on society, the economy, and national security.
“Betting and gambling is regarded as an unlawful activity in the majority of the states in India,” the petition states. “The devastating impact of online betting and gambling is endorsed in the objectives of the newly passed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. As per the IT Minister’s speech in Parliament, the Bill was introduced to ensure the welfare of society and to prevent the serious evil that is creeping into society.”
The plea warns of rising cases of financial ruin, mental health issues, and suicides linked to these platforms.
The petition seeks a range of directions, including:
- Nationwide prohibition on online gambling and betting platforms operating as esports or social games.
- Blocking of unlawful betting sites and apps under Section 69A of the IT Act.
- Directions to RBI, NPCI, and UPI platforms to disallow monetary transactions involving unregistered gaming applications.
- Tax recovery and investigation into offshore gaming companies through Interpol, CBI, and ED, which the petition claims owe over ₹2 lakh crore in unpaid taxes.
- Protection of minors’ data already collected by gaming companies.
The plea also flags the role of celebrity endorsements in promoting unlawful games.
“Top cricketers and film stars are endorsing such unlawful games leading to cyber frauds, addiction, mental health disorder and suicides,” it says.
Quoting the Union IT Minister, the petition adds:
“The fraud and cheating algorithms are such that it’s impossible to tell who is playing with whom… algorithms are opaque algorithms… defeat is certain, money laundering is taking place.”
