September 2025 marked a turning point for India’s online gaming industry. The country adopted the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Act, which effectively banned real-money online gaming, its promotion, and payment processing. Analysts at international brand Parimatch note that amid rapid changes in the market and law enforcement, players and operators are searching for new behavioral trajectories. From the perspective of Parimatch, which has long analyzed Asian markets, this situation has become a clear example of how excessive regulation can lead to industry shadow operations.
A ban in one jurisdiction immediately restructures user behavior and promotion strategies, shifting them to new digital platforms and external markets. For international brands like Parimatch, which were only studying the potential of the Indian direction, this became a signal to rethink their global expansion strategy.
What Was Banned and Why
The law adopted by parliament and approved by the president criminalizes online real-money gaming and its promotion. Banks and payment services are prohibited from conducting related transactions; violations carry fines and up to five years imprisonment. As the government emphasized, the decision was motivated by growing household financial losses and social harm: according to official estimates, approximately 450 million Indians (roughly one-third of the population) annually lose about $2.3 billion 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 dialogue with the industry—creates the risk of a “gray” economy emerging, as demand for gaming services remains colossal.
Where Players Are Migrating
The regulatory shock hasn’t stopped demand: an outflow of traffic to unregulated offshore sites is being recorded everywhere, with access provided through VPNs and proxy cards. Players themselves admit they will “return to old methods,” and practices of circumventing restrictions will only become more entrenched. Such drift increases behavioral and financial risks: offshore platforms operate outside India’s jurisdiction and consumer protection mechanisms.
At Parimatch, they point out that loss of traffic control leads not only to falling tax revenues but also to rising fraudulent schemes, damaging the industry’s image as a whole.
Parimatch and other international brands have become a kind of benchmark for Indian users, despite the fact that the company never operated in India due to legislative restrictions. They now return to the convenience and interfaces they were accustomed to before the ban through foreign platforms.
Cricket and Fantasy Sports Ecosystem
The biggest blow fell on the fantasy segment, closely linked with cricket. India’s largest fantasy platform Dream11, with approximately 260 million users, announced the cessation of cash contests, transition to non-cash prizes, and withdrawal from its sponsorship contract with BCCI worth nearly $43 million, warning of revenue drops up to 95%. Previously, fantasy platforms’ share of IPL broadcast advertising revenue was estimated at up to 40%, and is now falling sharply.
These shifts impact the entire funding 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 clearly show how quick bans break complex “game-sport-media-advertising” connections.
Parimatch experts emphasize that in the fantasy sports sphere, it is coordinated regulation that allows maintaining balance between business and public interests—an example India could orient itself toward in the future.
Law and Regulatory Policy
Legal disputes began immediately after the law took effect. Company A23 filed a constitutional appeal, arguing the ban is disproportionate to its purpose and harms law-abiding companies. Analytical centers in Delhi note: under the guise of consumer protection, the state effectively closed regulated Indian platforms, opening the road to “gray” offshore sites.
India’s Supreme Court is already reviewing a public petition proposing to develop a unified approach to blocking illegal sites and strengthen control over financial operations through national banking and payment systems. The petition’s authors emphasize the scale of the problem: hundreds of millions of users and over fifteen hundred gaming apps already blocked.
Parimatch notes in its analytical reports that the key to market stability is precisely legal certainty and dialogue between regulators and business, not total bans.
How Companies at Parimatch’s Level Are Adapting
Although Parimatch never operated in India, the company is often viewed as a benchmark for global approaches to responsible gaming and marketing innovations.
According to industry associations, the real-money online gaming market was valued at approximately $3.7 billion and provided over 200,000 jobs directly, and up to 300,000 including related services. After the ban, companies massively froze cash products, thousands of specialists were left unemployed, and advertising and creative industries lost major clients. Budget losses from uncollected taxes are estimated at approximately $2.5 billion annually. At the same time, some entrepreneurs have already announced relocating their projects abroad, creating risks of capital and professional talent outflow.
Some Indian gaming platforms are trying to quickly restructure, moving to free-to-play format 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, rethink marketing and audience retention methods in similar crisis situations. They transfer users to legal products, adapt content and formats to different markets. Parimatch considers this approach a universal survival model for the industry, regardless of country.
New Demand Dynamics
Against the backdrop of India’s ban, interest is growing in “lightweight” betting channels: through messengers and SMS. These formats are perceived as a convenient alternative to traditional apps and content stores. InPlaySoft research notes that such channels win due to simplicity, accessibility in regions with poor internet, automation through bots, and even integration with cryptocurrency payments. At the same time, the importance of user identification procedures (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) measures grows.
This is especially relevant for India: the stricter the restrictions on real-money gaming, the more actively players move to lightweight and often unregulated formats. As a result, the state faces a dual task: 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 harsh legislation creates conditions for uncontrolled niche development. The solution may not be prohibition, but creating clear frameworks for legal activity.
Parimatch Perspective on Global Market Dynamics
India’s ban demonstrated how quickly policy can reshape digital markets: consumer demand “doesn’t disappear” 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 total prohibition and flexible regulation will depend on how effectively the state can offer players legal alternatives without harming the sports industry. At the global level, Parimatch remains a clear example of how an international brand can combine responsibility, innovation, and strategic analysis without violating local laws.
