New Delhi, October 17: The Supreme Court on Friday described a plea seeking a ban on online gambling and betting platforms operating under the guise of social and e-sports games as an “important issue,” and asked petitioners to serve a copy to the government’s counsel for examination.
A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan directed advocate Virag Gupta, representing the petitioners, to share the plea with the lawyer appearing for the Centre. “It is an important issue. You serve one copy to him. Let him look into it. He will come back to us,” the Bench said. The government’s counsel was asked to study the petition and assist the court during the next hearing.
The plea, filed by Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) and Shourya Tiwari, seeks directions for the Union Government to curb the proliferation of gambling and betting applications, which petitioners claim are causing widespread social and economic harm across India. Gupta emphasised that the petition concerns the protection of 15 crore children allegedly affected by gaps in the current law, including the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.
Gupta also noted that betting and gambling fall under the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, but the central government acts as a “gatekeeper” with powers to issue blocking orders. He said, according to parliamentary responses, around 1,528 gaming apps have already been blocked.
The plea names six respondents, including four union ministries — Electronics and IT, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, Youth Affairs and Sports — and two major app store operators, Apple Inc. and Google India Pvt Ltd. It requests coordinated action across ministries to interpret the 2025 Online Gaming Act in harmony with state laws, prohibiting platforms disguising gambling as e-sports or social games.
According to the petition, more than 65 crore people are estimated to play such games in India, generating an annual revenue exceeding Rs 1.8 lakh crore for these platforms. The plea seeks:
- Blocking orders under Section 69A of the IT Act against unlawful betting platforms.
- Directions to the RBI, NPCI, and UPI networks to restrict transactions for online money games not registered in India.
- Measures to protect data of minors already collected by gaming companies.
The Bench said it would await instructions from the government before passing appropriate orders on the matter. The case underscores growing concerns over the regulation of online gaming and its social impact, particularly on children and adolescents.
