India’s Supreme Court has begun hearing a public litigation filing (PIL) by the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) seeking directions to ban online gambling platforms that it says operate under the pretense of social games or esports.
According to a report by The Hindustan Times, the PIL asks the court to direct various ministries “to do a harmonious interpretation of provisions of Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 and laws made by State Legislatures, to prohibit online gambling and betting games operating in the guise of social and e-sports games.”
Among the respondents named in the petition are leading app store operators Apple Inc. and Google India Pvt Ltd.
The PIL comes after India’s parliament recently passed without warning a new bill, titled Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025, than bans all real-money online gaming, including skill games such as fantasy sports and poker.
The CASC referenced this new bill in its petition while urging the court to direct the government to clamp down on apps it says are inflicting social and economic harm.
“Betting and gambling is regarded as an unlawful activity in the majority of the states in India,” the filing states, as per The Hindustan Times report. “Several cases are contested in high courts wherein affidavits were filed by the government and gaming platforms.
“Upon analyzing the same it is reported that more than 65 crore persons (650 million people) are playing such games creating annual business of more than ₹1.8 lac crores (US$20.5 billion) for these platforms in India. Around half of the Indian population is involved in playing online games which is adversely impacting society, economy and national security.
“The devastating impact of online betting and gambling are endorsed in the objectives of newly passed the 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 PIL seeks to provide the power to block unlawful betting sites and apps, to prevent all monetary transactions involving unregistered gaming applications and to seek tax recovery and investigation into companies that offer affected apps.
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