Is Polymarket Legal in India? Kalshi, Polymarket and the Online Gaming Act

India banned online money games in 2025. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act makes it an offence to offer a game played online for money in the hope of winning more, whether it turns on skill, chance or both, and its Rules took effect on 1 May 2026.

The government has gone further for polymarket.com. An advisory from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), issued in April 2026, names Polymarket among prediction-market sites "blocked for access in India under section 69A" of the Information Technology Act, and tells VPN providers that helping people reach them breaks the Act.

Kalshi's own member agreement has listed India among the places where trading its event contracts is restricted since 22 June 2026. No Indian document Vultax found names Kalshi. Polymarket US is built for US residents.

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The Act, No. 32 of 2025, received assent on 22 August 2025. Section 2(g) defines an online money game as one a user plays by paying or depositing money in the expectation of winning money or other stakes, "irrespective of whether such game is based on skill, chance, or both". Section 5 bars anyone from offering, aiding or inducing such a game; sections 6 and 7 bar advertising one and moving money for one.

Offering an online money game carries up to three years in prison, a fine of up to ₹1 crore, or both, under section 9. Section 14 lets the government block access to a game offered in breach of the Act. The Rules, published as G.S.R. 303(E) on 22 April 2026, came into force on 1 May and set up the Online Gaming Authority of India as an attached office of MeitY.

No published decision of the Authority classifies Polymarket or Kalshi as an online money game. The MeitY advisory treats Polymarket as a blocked betting platform without citing such a decision.

The MeitY advisory, numbered 2(6)/2024-CL&DG-Part(1), was sent to VPN providers and other intermediaries. It names "illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms, including websites such as Polymarket and few other similar sites, which have been blocked for access in India under section 69A", warns that helping users reach them breaches the Online Gaming Act and puts the intermediary's legal protection under section 79 at risk, and mentions conversion of rupees into USDC stablecoins.

Blocking orders under section 69A are confidential, so the order itself is not public. CoinDesk reported on 22 May 2026 that internet providers had been told to cut access to Polymarket. The scan of the advisory has an unclear date; press reports date it 25 April 2026.

Polymarket's own lists do not include India: neither the developer documentation nor the help page names it. A venue leaving a country off its list is not permission, and in India the restriction comes from the government.

Gaming companies challenged the Act, and the Supreme Court took the High Court petitions to itself in September 2025 as T.C.(C) No. 133/2025. Vultax found no order staying the Act or the Rules. The case is pending, so the Act applies as written until the court decides otherwise.

Vultax found no statement on prediction markets from the Reserve Bank of India, SEBI or the Enforcement Directorate. The government's payments angle is MeitY's: the Rules stop banks and payment systems from handling prohibited transactions, and the advisory mentions stablecoin conversion.

• polymarket.com - The government says it is blocked under section 69A, and has told VPN providers that helping users reach it breaks the Online Gaming Act. Polymarket's help page says using a VPN to get around location limits breaks its terms.
• Kalshi - Its own agreement restricts trading its event contracts from India.
• Polymarket US - It is built for US residents and does not describe a service for India.
• Offering or promoting - The Act's penalties fall mainly on those who offer, advertise or move money for online money games; this page does not say how they would apply to an individual user.

The Act, the Rules, the Press Information Bureau release, the MeitY advisory and the venue documents were read on 30 October 2026. The section 69A blocking order is confidential, so the block on polymarket.com rests on MeitY's own advisory and press reports of its effect. The Supreme Court challenge was followed through a case tracker, not the court record. Vultax did not test access from India.

This page describes legal documents; it is not legal advice. Challenge a line at [email protected].