The blocking order will reportedly be issued under Section 69A of the IT Act, which empowers the Centre to restrict access to online content
This comes nearly a month after MeitY directed VPN service providers to block access to online betting and prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi
The formal order comes as the two platforms continued to enable Indian users to trade on their prediction markets via mirror sites despite the ban
The IT ministry (MeitY) is reportedly all set to formally block US-based prediction market platform Kalshi as soon as tomorrow (May 22).
A MeitY official told The Print that the ministry has already issued orders to enforce the ban on the platform operating in the country “illegally”, while the process is underway to block another such platform, Polymarket.
“We have already issued a blocking order to Polymarket and are in the process of issuing an order to Kalshi as soon as Friday,” a MeitY official reportedly said.
The blocking order will reportedly be issued under Section 69A of the IT Act, which empowers the Centre to restrict access to online content.
Polymarket and Kalshi are US-based prediction marketplaces that offer platforms where individuals can place bets on future outcomes.
This comes nearly a month after the IT ministry issued an advisory, directing VPN service providers and intermediaries to stop enabling access to blocked online betting and prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. Both platforms are banned in the country.
The latest formal order comes as the two platforms continued to enable Indian users to trade on their prediction markets via mirror sites despite the ban. For context, a mirror site is an exact copy of a website hosted on a separate server, usually under a different URL, to bypass blocking orders.
The move is a part of the Centre’s wider crackdown on RMG and opinion trading in India. Last year, both houses of the Parliament passed a legislation, which prohibited online real-money gaming and banned advertisements for such platforms. Earlier last month, the IT ministry also notified the Online Gaming Act, 2025, which came into effect on May 1.
Kalshi and Polymarket, both of which allow users to collect winnings from the outcome of events, also fall under the ambit of the ban. Notably, homegrown apps such as Probo, TradeX and MPL’s Opinio, which gained traction during IPL 2024 by letting users bet on real-world outcomes, also went dark after the clampdown last year.
Another issue plaguing the two US-based platforms is their crypto-powered nature. All virtual digital asset (VDA) service providers are required to mandatorily register as “reporting entities” with the finance ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and comply with anti-money laundering norms. Until the applicants acquire the licences, they cannot operate in the country.
The development also comes at a time when the erstwhile RMG players have come under regulatory scanner. Agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) have launched probes into many of these platforms over alleged links to illegal betting.
Earlier this month, ED arrested three cofounders of gaming platform Gameskraft Technologies and froze its assets worth ₹526 Cr in connection with an alleged money laundering case. The trio have now moved the Karnataka High Court (HC), seeking bail.
Earlier this year, WinZO cofounders, Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, were also arrested by the ED on money laundering charges under the PMLA following raids and seizure of assets totalling ₹690 Cr. The duo were subsequently granted bail.
Source: Inc42 - Startups
