The Supreme Court has confirmed it will hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) this Friday (October 17, 2025). This petition, filed by the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC), urges the Central government to ban online gambling and betting platforms that cleverly operate under the guise of social and esports games.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran acknowledged the arguments put forth by CASC’s lawyer, Virag Gupta, on Thursday, scheduling the hearing for October 17.
The PIL specifically asks various Union Ministries—including Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, and Youth Affairs and Sports—to interpret the ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025’ and related State laws. The goal is to enforce a prohibition on online gambling and betting activities that are deceptively presented as legitimate social or esports entertainment.
Filed on October 13 by advocates Virag Gupta and Rupali Panwar, the petition names six entities as respondents: the four aforementioned Union ministries, along with major app store operators, Apple Inc. and Google India Pvt. Ltd.
The CASC, represented by former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh and Shourya Tiwari, has implored the top court to take decisive action against the spread of these betting and gambling applications. They contend that these platforms are causing extensive social and economic damage across the nation.
“Gambling and betting are illegal in most Indian states,” the petition highlights. It further states, “Analysis of numerous high court cases, including affidavits from both government and gaming platforms, reveals that over 65 crore individuals are currently engaging with these games. This generates an astounding annual business of more than ₹1.8 lakh crores for these platforms in India.”
The PIL emphasizes that roughly half of India’s population is involved in online gaming, which is severely detrimental to society, the economy, and national security. The devastating consequences of online betting and gambling are even acknowledged in the objectives of the recently enacted ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025’. According to the IT Minister’s speech in Parliament, the Act was introduced to safeguard societal welfare and combat a “serious evil” that is increasingly permeating society.
The Alarming Rise of Online Gaming
The petition asserts that the uncontrolled growth of online gaming has created a “national crisis.” This crisis reportedly affects “half of India’s population,” leading to financial ruin, significant mental health issues, and tragically, even suicides. The plea demands a nationwide ban on all online gambling and betting platforms, regardless of whether they claim to be esports or social games.
Among its various requests, the PIL calls for immediate blocking orders under Section 69A of the IT Act against all illegal betting websites and applications.
It also seeks directives for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and all UPI platforms to block financial transactions with unregistered gaming applications.
Furthermore, the petition demands a thorough tax recovery and investigation into offshore gaming companies, through agencies like Interpol, CBI, and ED. These companies are estimated to owe over ₹2 lakh crore in unpaid taxes.
Finally, the PIL emphasizes the critical need for protecting the data of minors that has already been collected by these online gaming operators.
“Prominent cricketers and film stars are openly endorsing these illicit games, which contributes to cyber frauds, addiction, mental health problems, and suicides,” the PIL states. It quotes the Union IT Minister: ‘The fraud and cheating algorithms are such that it’s impossible to tell who is playing with whom… algorithms are opaque algorithms… defeat is certain, money laundering is taking place…’.