Online Gaming Rules 2026 Explained: What Changed for Players

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 banned offering, advertising and processing payments for online money games, and divided online games into three groups: online money games, online social games and e-sports. What it didn't do was set out the machinery. The Rules, notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 22 April 2026 and in force from 1 May 2026 (All India Radio/Prasar Bharati), fill that gap.

The Rules create the Online Gaming Authority of India as an attached office of MeitY, chaired by an Additional Secretary with members from other ministries, including Home Affairs, Financial Services, Information and Broadcasting, Legal Affairs, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Telecommunications. It's designed to work as a digital office, so proceedings don't require anyone to appear in person.

• It decides whether a game is an online money game, an online social game or an e-sport.
• It doesn't vet every game. It takes one up on its own, when an e-sports body applies to register, or when the government flags a category.
• Once it takes up a game, it has 90 days to decide, and the decision covers the company offering the game, not just one title.
• It keeps the list of online money games and can direct banks and payment firms to suspend, restrict or block transactions for them.
• It hears user complaints.

The test looks at how money moves, not what the game is called. Factors include whether you pay an entry fee or deposit, whether you stake money, whether you expect to win money or money's worth, and how the platform earns its revenue. A Teen Patti app where you buy chips, bet them and can cash out is an online money game. The same game with chips you can't cash out is much closer to a social game.

Registrations that are granted, for e-sports and notified social games, are valid for 10 years.

• Real-money versions of Teen Patti, rummy and Yono-style apps are online money games. They can't be registered in India, so an app offering cash games isn't operating under any Indian approval, whatever its banner says.
• Free and chip-only play is unaffected. Our free Teen Patti practice table is an example: no deposits, no cash-outs.
• The Act's penalties are aimed at people who offer, advertise or process payments for money games: up to three years' imprisonment and a ₹1 crore fine for offering one, and up to two years and ₹50 lakh for advertising one. It doesn't penalise playing, but money you deposit has little or no protection.
• Payments can stop without warning. Because banks can be told to block transactions, deposits and withdrawals on an unregistered app can fail at any time.
• Cyber police stations and district cyber units can investigate hosting, advertising or payment processing for money games.

If you still have a balance in an app, withdraw it only through the app's own withdrawal section. Never pay a release fee, tax or KYC charge to a support agent or Telegram contact: that's the most common scam since 2025. See our guides on Teen Patti Master withdrawals and RummyCircle withdrawals.

Platforms are expected to provide age verification, parental controls and limits on playing time. If you have a complaint about a platform, you can escalate it to the Online Gaming Authority, and an order of the Authority can be appealed to the Secretary of MeitY, the appellate authority, within 30 days.

• An app that claims to be government registered or licensed while taking deposits and paying cash prizes. Money games can't be registered.
• Agents asking you to deposit through a personal UPI ID or a Telegram group.
• Any fee to unlock or release a withdrawal.
• APK files from mirror sites instead of an official source. Our safe APK install guide explains the checks.

For game-specific legal background, see is Teen Patti legal in India and is rummy legal in India.