New Delhi: The Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) has issued an advisory to app stores, cloud service providers, telecom and internet service providers, banks, social media intermediaries, OTT platforms and advertising agencies, directing them to stop enabling online money games and to build internal systems to prevent such activity. ThePrint has seen a copy of the advisory.
The 29 July advisory, issued by OGAI Secretary T. Santhosh, is addressed to “all persons whose operations, services or platforms may directly or indirectly involve the offering, aiding, advertisement, or financial enablement of online money games.” It cites Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 May 2026.
Section 5 bars any person from offering, aiding or abetting an online money game. Section 6 bars advertisements that promote or induce a person to play one. Section 7 bars banks, financial institutions and other persons from facilitating payments towards such games.
The Act prohibits all online money games, whether based on skill, chance or both, and covers platforms such as real-money fantasy sports, poker and cash rummy.
The Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The advisory states that it has “come to the attention of the Authority” that categories of entities including application stores, cloud providers, telecom and internet providers, banks, social media intermediaries, OTT platforms and advertising agencies are involved in prohibited activities in “potential violation” of the Act. It directs these entities to review internal policies and “suspend any activities” that amount to non-compliance, including disabling gaming applications on their platforms, blocking hosting, stopping fund authorisation and pulling related advertisements.
It further directs that “all persons shall mandatorily build and implement appropriate automated or manual internal compliance systems, procedures, checks and safeguards” suited to their business. The advisory says non-compliance “shall be viewed very seriously” and can lead to information being blocked under Section 14 of the Act.
The advisory lists the penalties under Section 9. A violation of Section 5 carries up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, with three-to-five years and a fine of Rs 1-2 crore for repeat offences. A Section 6 violation carries up to two years and a fine of up to Rs 50 lakh. A Section 7 violation carries up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore.
The advisory is the latest step in the rollout of a law that has reshaped the sector. The Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025, is the first central law dedicated to online gaming. It permits online social games and e-sports while banning online money games, and constitutes OGAI under Section 8 as the body that determines whether a game is an online money game and that recognises, registers and categorises games.
The accompanying Rules were notified on 22 April 2026 and came into force on 1 May, the day OGAI became operational.
Even as the advisory presses intermediaries and operators to comply, the Authority’s own systems remain incomplete. ThePrint has learnt that determination notices are being sent to gaming companies even though the OGAI submission portal is still not operational, leaving firms with notices to answer but no functioning channel to file responses or registration applications through.
The gap has persisted for months. As ThePrint reported in June, the registration form for online social games and e-sports was placed on the government website, but the portal meant to receive it did not exist, leaving operators without a way to register and raising questions over the status of tournaments already held. A MeitY official had then said the system was close to ready and the portal would be up soon.
Under the Rules, a determination can be triggered in three ways: a suo motu notice from the Authority, an application by a provider seeking to offer a game as an e-sport, or a Central Government notification requiring a category of games to be assessed. The Authority is required to complete a determination within 90 days of a complete application or notice.
The advisory says it has been issued with the approval of the competent authority in the ministry “without prejudice to any other action” that may be taken under any law in force.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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