November 4, 2025

Imagine a senior man watching a thrilling soccer match and placing bets through his phone – sounds familiar? But the world of online betting in India is hiding a huge and risky secret! On Monday, the Supreme Court took a bold step by asking the Union Government to respond to a petition that wants to stop sneaky online gambling platforms pretending to be social or e-sports games. A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan agreed to hear the petition on Tuesday. Virag Gupta, the lawyer for the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) and Shourya Tiwari, revealed that details of about 2,000 such betting and gambling apps were already shared with the government. He emphasized, "The petition was focussed on protecting children from being exposed to such apps." The plea is serious. It asks key ministries—Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, and Youth Affairs and Sports—to work together and interpret the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, along with state laws, to crack down on these dangerous betting games hiding behind social and e-sports labels. This battle is urgent! Betting and gambling are illegal in most Indian states, yet more than 65 crore people are playing these risky games. This creates a massive business worth over Rs 1.8 lakh crore every year for these betting platforms. The petition wants the government to use powers under Section 69A of the IT Act to block all illegal betting and gambling sites across the country. With the Supreme Court stepping in, will we see a crackdown on these sneaky apps soon? Stay tuned as the government prepares its response!

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Tags: Supreme court, Online gambling, Betting Apps, E-sports, Indian Law, Online gaming regulation,