September 2025 marked a turning point for India’s online gaming industry. The country enacted the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Act, effectively prohibiting real-money online games, their promotion, and payment processing. Analysts from the international brand Parimatch observe that amid rapid market transformations and enforcement shifts, players and operators are seeking new behavioral pathways. From Parimatch’s perspective—having long analyzed Asian markets—this situation became an illustrative example of how excessive regulation can drive an industry underground.
A ban in one jurisdiction immediately reshapes user behavior and promotional strategies, redirecting them to new digital platforms and external markets. For international brands like Parimatch, which had only been exploring the Indian market’s potential, this became a signal to rethink global expansion strategy.
What Was Banned and Why
The law passed by parliament and signed by the president criminalizes online real-money gaming and its promotion. Banks and payment services are prohibited from processing related transactions; violations carry fines and up to five years imprisonment. As government officials emphasized, the decision was driven by rising 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 assessments, precisely this approach—without a transition period and industry consultation—creates the risk of a “gray” economy emerging, as demand for gaming services remains enormous.
Where Players Are Migrating
The regulatory shock hasn’t halted demand: widespread traffic migration to unregulated offshore sites is being documented, with access enabled through VPNs and proxy servers. Players themselves acknowledge they will “return to old methods,” and circumvention practices will only become more entrenched. Such drift increases behavioral and financial risks: offshore platforms operate outside India’s jurisdiction and consumer protection frameworks.
Parimatch experts note that losing control over traffic leads not only to declining tax revenues but also to proliferating fraudulent schemes that damage the market’s overall reputation.
Parimatch and other international brands have become a kind of standard for Indian users, despite the company never operating in India due to legislative restrictions. The convenience and interfaces they grew accustomed to before the ban are now being accessed through foreign platforms.
Cricket and Fantasy Sports Ecosystem
The hardest impact fell on the fantasy segment, closely linked to cricket. India’s largest fantasy platform Dream11, with approximately 260 million users, announced the cessation of cash contests, shift to non-monetary prizes, and withdrawal from its nearly $43 million sponsorship contract with BCCI, forecasting a 95% revenue drop. Previously, fantasy platforms’ share of IPL broadcast advertising revenue was estimated at up to 40%, but is now plummeting.
These shifts impact the entire financing chain of leagues and clubs. At the corporate level, international groups are also shutting down “cash” products: Flutter withdrew Junglee, citing the absence of a transition period and consultations. The dynamics vividly demonstrate how rapid bans break down complex “gaming-sports-media-advertising” relationships.
Parimatch experts emphasize that in fantasy sports, precisely coordinated regulation enables maintaining balance between business and public interests—an example India could follow in the future.
Legal and Regulatory Policy
Legal challenges began immediately after the law took effect. Company A23 filed a constitutional petition, 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 shut down regulated Indian platforms, paving the way for “gray” offshore sites.
India’s Supreme Court is already considering a public petition proposing a unified approach to blocking illegal sites and strengthening oversight of financial operations through national banking and payment systems. The petition’s authors emphasize the problem’s magnitude: 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 clarity and dialogue between regulators and business, not blanket prohibitions.
How Companies at Parimatch’s Level Are Adapting
Although Parimatch never operated in India, the company is often regarded 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 professionals lost employment, 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 flight.
Some Indian gaming platforms are attempting rapid restructuring, transitioning to free-to-play formats 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 India’s ban backdrop, interest is surging in “lightweight” betting channels: through messengers and SMS. These formats are perceived as convenient alternatives to traditional apps and content stores. InPlaySoft research indicates that such channels gain advantage through simplicity, accessibility in regions with poor internet connectivity, automation through bots, and even integration with cryptocurrency payments. The importance of user identification procedures (KYC) and anti-money laundering measures (AML) is increasing.
For India, this is particularly relevant: the stricter the restrictions on real-money games, the more actively players shift to lightweight and often unregulated formats. Consequently, the state faces a dual challenge: 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 establishing clear frameworks for legal activity.
India’s ban demonstrated how rapidly policy can reshape digital markets: consumer demand “doesn’t vanish” 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.