The international gaming sector is intensively monitoring India’s evolving market landscape and ongoing debates concerning betting and digital gaming platforms, with Parimatch among the leading companies recognizing India’s significant potential. Simultaneously, major international operators like Parimatch maintain that successful investment strategies and compliant taxation frameworks depend on establishing clear and realistic regulatory guidelines. This makes the strategic direction selection vital: complete market prohibition versus structured, enforceable regulation that maintains industry operations within established legal boundaries.
The Regulatory Framework Challenge
India’s legislative body passed the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Act, establishing comprehensive prohibitions on real money gaming (RMG) digital operations, including marketing activities and related financial processes. Legislative advocates emphasize “significant financial and psychological risk factors” requiring “comprehensive intervention strategies” to address societal concerns. Legal violations carry imprisonment sentences up to three years plus substantial monetary penalties.
Industry Response: Service Terminations and Market Realignment
The legislative decision prompted immediate industry reactions as leading operators began terminating real money gaming services and implementing deposit restrictions. Dream Sports, operating the Dream11, Dream Picks, and Dream Play platforms, considered complete operational division shutdown following law implementation during internal strategic planning sessions. Mobile Premier League (MPL) halted premium gaming services and deposit operations while initiating customer refund processes. Gaming companies Zupee, Probo, and Gameskraft terminated RMG operations completely. Furthermore, Times Internet announced the Cricbuzz11 project suspension.
Throughout this transition, industry organizations and operators evaluated potential Supreme Court appeal strategies, while recognizing substantial legal challenges ahead. Concurrently, hundreds of industry professionals began public employment searches through social media platforms, expecting significant workforce reductions in coming weeks.
The federal GST council simultaneously implemented 28% digital gaming taxation (increased from previous 18% commission-exclusive charges). This revised structure taxes both operational commissions and direct wagering amounts. Users face considerably higher participation costs while operators predict widespread business model collapses. Large enterprises might successfully navigate these changes, whereas medium and smaller operators approach “financial sustainability limits.” Industry specialists emphasize that transparent regulatory systems, rather than prohibition paired with excessive taxation, preserve legal industry engagement and create sustainable growth conditions.
Legal Classification Issues: Defining “Skill versus Chance”
Indian judicial precedent has traditionally categorized skill-based and chance-dependent gaming separately. Fantasy cricket platforms, rummy, and poker leveraged this distinction, achieving favorable court decisions as “skill-focused” activities. Current legislation and tax changes eliminate these categories, applying consistent stricter standards across previously “skill-classified” products. Fantasy sports, serving as a primary mobile gaming driver in India, therefore faces potential revenue elimination.
Sports wagering remains officially prohibited nationwide (excluding traditional horse racing exceptions). In reality, this created extensive underground markets, especially cricket-focused, with estimated shadow economy transactions reaching tens of billions across millions of users. Complete RMG prohibition will likely channel consumer demand toward unregulated spaces lacking oversight systems, responsible gaming measures, or tax contributions.
For international operators assessing India’s market opportunities, core concerns transcend “skill versus chance” debates toward creating legal frameworks that distinguish legitimate operations from underground activities. Industry agreement suggests only comprehensive regulation and licensing mechanisms can balance consumer protection with revenue generation while promoting sustained industry investment.
Self-Governance Systems: Exploring Regulatory Alternatives
2023 regulations established self-regulated organization (SRB) frameworks designed to validate “approved” RMG services and implement transparent operational criteria (including algorithmic fairness standards). However, essential implementation elements (procedural guidelines, decision-making protocols, enforcement measures) never reached operational status, with several technical specifications eliminated during final approval processes. Without clearly established SRB structures, industry participants face operational uncertainty while government entities lack effective regulatory tools.
Prohibition advocates highlight addictive design features, youth exposure risks, and social impacts (financial burdens, family disruption, criminal activities). International research demonstrates that access restrictions without comprehensive support mechanisms (educational initiatives, risk awareness programs, age verification, spending/time limitations, support resources) produce limited long-term success. Younger participants develop circumvention methods, and problems relocate rather than resolve.
Industry correspondence to government officials estimated Indian RMG company valuations at approximately ₹2 trillion (~$23 billion), generating ₹310 billion (~$3.6 billion) revenues while providing ₹200 billion (~$2.29 billion) annual tax contributions. Markets previously demonstrated 28% compound annual growth with projections suggesting potential 2028 market doubling. Rapid prohibition implementation challenges employment stability, innovation capacity, and tax revenue foundations while maintaining illegal demand networks.
Regarding proposed regulatory changes, analysts emphasize legal framework quality and intellectual property protection importance. International operators experience brand counterfeiting within Indian markets, damaging consumer trust and preventing legitimate service development and partnership formation. Companies stress that without conditions ensuring competitive equality for international enterprises, major investments remain difficult.
India’s Counterfeit Gaming Infrastructure: Beyond Brand Imitation
Legal sector development encounters major obstacles from widespread counterfeit gambling brand proliferation. Indian fraudulent operators systematically create replica websites and mobile applications mimicking recognized international brands including established gaming platforms and prominent operators. These deceptive sites replicate corporate branding and operational features, misleading consumers. CUTS International research shows illegal platforms—including counterfeit versions targeting users of legitimate brands—accumulated over 5.4 billion visits during fiscal 2025. This traffic exceeds major digital platforms, illustrating the challenge’s magnitude.
Counterfeiting methods employ various techniques. Pre-built “clone-script” technologies enable rapid site deployment resembling major operators within days. Unauthorized mobile applications distributed through unofficial channels perfectly replicate legitimate platform designs. Telegram channels and automated systems receive extensive use—major operators regularly warn users about fraudulent Telegram bots collecting funds through deceptive “bonus programs.”
Government responses include police raids, domain blocking, and server seizures by state cyber divisions, though effectiveness remains limited. Offshore jurisdiction use, anonymous registrations, and cryptocurrency transactions complicate prosecution efforts and extend legal processes. Brands consequently suffer reputation damage while consumers remain vulnerable to fraudulent schemes. Studies show illegal sites specifically target younger users and financially vulnerable groups, promoting “instant wagering” and unrealistic payout promises.
In this context, established international operators stress that counterfeit prevention must integrate with regulatory policy development. Otherwise, prohibition measures or tax increases will fuel shadow market growth, already showing rapid expansion.
Parimatch’s Market Perspective: Regulation as the Strategic Foundation
Complete RMG prohibition combined with 28% goods and services taxation severely limits legitimate market operations. Consumer demand continues but shifts toward unregulated and high-risk environments.
Comprehensive regulatory frameworks represent the optimal approach for market development. This includes unified federal standards, operational self-regulated organizations (SRBs) with established procedures and algorithmic oversight, age and behavioral restriction implementation, payment transparency requirements, responsible gaming mechanism development, and strong intellectual property and brand protection systems.
For India, this strategy maintains employment opportunities, tax revenue generation, and innovation advancement. For established international operators like Parimatch, structured regulation provides operational predictability and market confidence. Such regulatory infrastructure would effectively establish market opportunities for proven operators like Parimatch, enabling meaningful contributions to India’s digital gaming ecosystem through legal, transparent, and responsible platform development that serves both consumer interests and broader economic goals.
