OGAI tells platforms, banks and advertisers to halt support for prohibited money games
India’s Online Gaming Authority has advised app stores, cloud providers, telecom operators, banks, social platforms, OTTs and advertisers to stop hosting, promoting or processing payments for prohibited real-money games under the PROG Act, 2025.
What happened
Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) · OGAI advised app stores, cloud firms, telecom operators, banks, social platforms, OTTs and advertisers to stop
Key facts
- July 29, 2026
- Sections 5, 6 and 7
- up to 3 years' imprisonment
- fine up to Rs 1 crore
- repeat-offence fine of Rs 1-2 crore
- up to 2 years' imprisonment
- fine up to Rs 50 lakh
- 68.3% to 82%
- 3.4% to 42.3%
- 15.2% increase
- 854 influencers
Why this matters
Acquirers and partnership teams should intensify diligence on gaming-adjacent targets, payment flows, distribution arrangements and advertising inventory as prohibited-RMG exposure could create material liabilities.
What to watch
- Publication of a definitive list of prohibited games, domains, apps, merchants or payment identifiers.
- Clarification of whether particular fantasy sports, poker, rummy, skill-gaming, esports or reward-based products qualify as prohibited.
- First enforcement actions, intermediary notices, bank account freezes, app-store removals or prosecutions under the PROG Act.
- Payment-network circulars defining restricted merchant categories, transaction thresholds or reporting obligations.
- Major platform policy changes by Google Play, Apple App Store, Meta, Google Ads, telecoms or leading Indian payment aggregators.
- Evidence of rising fraud complaints, mule-account activity, crypto use or offshore-site traffic following takedowns.
- Court challenges seeking stays, constitutional review or narrower interpretation of intermediary liability.
- App stores and cloud providers will update prohibited-content policies, seek operator certifications and conduct portfolio reviews of gaming clients.
- Banks, UPI/payment aggregators and card networks will create or tighten merchant-category, transaction-pattern and beneficiary-account controls for suspected RMG payments.
- Ad platforms, influencers, OTTs and affiliate networks will pause gaming campaigns, require legal attestations and add stricter advertiser due diligence.
- Telecom operators and internet service providers may receive or request blocklists, creating demand for domain-monitoring and repeat-offender detection.
- Gaming companies will emphasize legal opinions, geofencing, age-gating, KYC, game-format documentation and non-cash monetization models to preserve distribution access.
- Consumer acquisition spending displaced from prohibited RMG could move toward regulated entertainment, casual gaming, esports, streaming, food delivery and ecommerce promotions.