MeitY Warns VPN Firms Over Enabling Access To Illegal Betting Platforms

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued an advisory urging VPN service providers and intermediaries to stop enabling access to blocked online betting and prediction market platforms like Polymarket. 

The ministry said that VPN service providers are bound by due diligence obligations under the IT Rules, 2021 to ensure that their platforms are not used for hosting, transmitting any information that violates any law that is in force in the country.

“It is observed that certain users are circumventing the legal restrictions imposed on such platforms by misusing VPN services to access these websites. In addition, such users are engaging in financial transactions through conversion of ₹ into virtual digital assets such as USD Coin (USDC) or other stablecoins, thereby enabling participation in such platforms despite domestic prohibitions,” the MeitY advisory, dated April 25, read.

For context, the Central government undertook a major policy overhaul last year when it outlawed real money gaming (RMG) in any form. Any platform or service that directly or indirectly enables access to RMG would violate The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.

Polymarket is an American cryptocurrency-based prediction market which offers a platform where individuals can place bets on future outcomes.It is officially banned and blocked in India.

The move is a part of the Centre’s wider crackdown on RMG and opinion trading in India recently.

Apps such as Probo, TradeX and MPL’s Opinio gained traction during IPL 2024 by letting users bet on real-world outcomes, from sports matches to elections and even weather. The model allowed users to take positions on “yes” or “no” outcomes and earn payouts based on results and market demand.

At their peak, some of these platforms saw strong user growth and heavy marketing spends, especially in Tier II and Tier III markets. Probo alone reportedly crossed 1 Mn daily active users during the IPL season.

However, the category has since come under regulatory pressure. Enforcement agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), have launched probes into some of these platforms over alleged links to illegal betting.

In Probo’s case, the ED conducted searches and seized assets worth hundreds of crores, while state police in Haryana and Rajasthan have also taken action, including freezing bank accounts. Multiple FIRs and public interest litigations have questioned whether opinion trading amounts to gambling.

Several startups have already scaled back. TradeX has exited real-money opinion trading and shifted to a free-to-play model, while MPL and SportsBaazi have pulled their offerings in certain states such as Haryana. Probo has also suspended operations in some regions.

However, the legal position still remains unclear. Opinion trading sits in a grey area between skill-based gaming and gambling, with no clear central law governing it. While companies argue that predicting outcomes requires skill, critics say the format is largely chance-based.

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