September 2025 became a pivotal moment for India’s online gaming industry. At that time, the country adopted the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Act, which effectively banned real-money online games, their promotion, and payment processing. Analysts from the international brand Parimatch note that amid rapid market changes and enforcement practices, players and operators are searching for new behavioral pathways. From Parimatch’s viewpoint—having long analyzed Asian markets—this situation became a telling example of how excessive regulation can lead to industry shadow operations.
Prohibition in one jurisdiction immediately rebuilds user behavior and promotional strategies, shifting them to new digital platforms and external markets. For international brands like Parimatch, which had only been studying the Indian market’s potential, this became a signal to reconsider global expansion strategy.
What Exactly Was Prohibited and Why
The law adopted by parliament and approved by the president criminalizes online money gaming and its promotion. Banks and payment services are forbidden from conducting relevant transactions; violations carry fines and up to five years imprisonment. As government officials emphasized, the decision was motivated by growing household financial losses and social harm: according to official estimates, approximately 450 million Indians (roughly one-third of the population) lose around $2.3 billion annually on online gambling. The law also declares support for developing non-gambling segments such as esports and social gaming.
According to Parimatch estimates, precisely this approach—without a transition period and industry dialogue—creates the risk of a “gray” economy emerging, as demand for gaming services remains colossal.
Where Players Are Migrating
The regulatory shock hasn’t stopped demand: traffic outflow to unregulated offshore sites is being recorded everywhere, with access provided through VPNs and proxy servers. Players themselves acknowledge they will “return to old methods,” and circumvention practices will only become more established. Such drift increases behavioral and financial risks: offshore platforms operate outside India’s jurisdiction and consumer protection mechanisms.
At Parimatch, attention is drawn to the fact that losing control over traffic leads not only to declining tax revenues but also to growing fraudulent schemes that harm the market’s overall image.
Parimatch and other international brands have become a kind of benchmark for Indian users, despite the company never conducting activities in India due to legislative restrictions. The convenience and interfaces they became accustomed to before the ban are now being accessed through foreign platforms.
Cricket and Fantasy Sports Ecosystem
The biggest blow fell on the fantasy segment, closely tied to cricket. India’s largest fantasy platform Dream11, with approximately 260 million users, announced cessation of cash contests, transition to non-monetary prizes, and withdrawal from its nearly $43 million sponsorship contract with BCCI, warning of a 95% revenue decline. Previously, fantasy platforms’ share of IPL broadcast advertising revenue was estimated at up to 40%, but is now rapidly falling.
These shifts impact the entire chain of league and club financing. At the corporate level, international groups are also winding down “cash” products: Flutter withdrew Junglee, citing the absence of a transition period and consultations. The dynamics clearly show how rapid bans break complex “game-sport-media-advertising” connections.
Parimatch experts emphasize that in the fantasy sports sphere, precisely coordinated regulation allows maintaining balance between business and public interests—an example India could orient toward in the future.
Legal and Regulatory Policy
Legal disputes began immediately after the law took effect. Company A23 filed a constitutional appeal, arguing the ban is disproportionate to its purpose and harms law-abiding companies. Think tanks in Delhi note: under the guise of consumer protection, the state effectively closed regulated Indian platforms, opening the road for “gray” offshore sites.
India’s Supreme Court is already reviewing a public petition proposing a unified approach to blocking illegal sites and strengthening control over financial operations through national banking and payment systems. The petition’s authors emphasize the problem’s scale: hundreds of millions of users and over fifteen hundred already-blocked gaming applications.
Parimatch notes in its analytical reports that the key to market stability is precisely legal certainty and the presence of dialogue between regulators and business, not total prohibitions.
How Companies at Parimatch’s Level Are Adapting
Although Parimatch never conducted operations in India, the company is often viewed as a benchmark for global approaches to responsible gaming and marketing innovation.
According to industry association estimates, the real-money online gaming market was valued at approximately $3.7 billion and provided over 200,000 direct jobs, and up to 300,000 including related services. After the ban, companies massively froze cash products, thousands of specialists lost their jobs, and advertising and creative industries lost major clients. Budget losses from uncollected taxes are estimated at approximately $2.5 billion annually. Meanwhile, some entrepreneurs have already announced relocating their projects abroad, creating risks of capital and professional talent outflow.
Some Indian gaming platforms are attempting rapid restructuring, transitioning to free-to-play format and creating content services like Sportz Drip or FanCode, where users compete not for money but for points and prizes. However, such projects require significantly fewer resources and personnel compared to real-money games.
Simultaneously, international companies, including brands at Parimatch’s level, in similar crisis situations reconsider marketing and audience retention methods. They transition users to legal products, adapt content and formats for different markets. Parimatch considers this approach a universal survival model for the industry, regardless of country.
New Demand Dynamics
Against the backdrop of India’s ban, interest is growing in “lightweight” betting channels: through messengers and SMS. These formats are perceived as convenient alternatives to traditional apps and content stores. InPlaySoft research notes that such channels win due to simplicity, accessibility in regions with poor internet, automation through bots, and even integration with cryptocurrency payments. The importance of user identification procedures (KYC) and anti-money laundering measures (AML) is growing.
For India, this is especially relevant: the stricter the restrictions on real-money games, the more actively players transition to lightweight and often unregulated formats. As a result, the state faces a dual task: strengthen control and blocking, but without pushing users into the shadow segment.
As Parimatch analysts note, the displacement effect is a typical market reaction when strict legislation creates conditions for uncontrolled niches to develop. The solution may lie not in prohibition, but in creating clear frameworks for legal activity.
India’s ban demonstrated how quickly policy can reshape digital markets: consumer demand “doesn’t disappear” but redistributes among offshore platforms, “free” local products, and new channels where regulation is weaker.
Parimatch experts emphasize that the outcome of the confrontation between complete prohibition and flexible regulation will depend on how effectively the state can offer players legal alternatives without harming the sports industry. On a global level, Parimatch remains a demonstrative example of how an international brand can combine responsibility, innovation, and strategic analysis without violating local laws.
