India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules took effect on 1 May 2026. The rules implement a framework that distinguishes online money games from permitted categories, including eligible esports and online social games.
The payment model is relevant
The underlying Act prohibits offering online money games. The classification does not follow automatically from the label a service uses. How a person pays to participate, what they can receive and how the game is structured all matter when determining whether it falls within that category.
Esports and social games have separate treatment
The rules outline classification, registration and related procedures under the Online Gaming Authority of India. Recognition as an esport or a social game should not be inferred from the game’s name, and a product that falls within the money-game prohibition does not become permitted just because it is offered in an app.