242 ‘illegal betting and gambling’ sites blocked

Why in news

The Union government blocked 242 illegal betting and gambling sites on January 16, 2026, as part of enforcement under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.

Background

The Union government blocked 242 sites on January 16, 2026, bringing the cumulative total of blocked sites to 7,800. The action is taken under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which outlawed all real money gaming and gambling.

Facts for Prelims

• Act / BillPromotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025: Outlaws all real money gaming and gambling in India.
• FactTotal number of illegal betting and gambling sites blocked by the government as of January 16, 2026: 7,800.
• FactNumber of sites blocked in the latest action on January 16, 2026: 242.

For Mains

Q. Examine the challenges in regulating and curbing illegal online gambling and betting platforms in India despite legislative frameworks.

Dimensions to cover in your answer

• Jurisdictional hurdles: Difficulty in policing offshore servers and decentralized peer-to-peer gambling networks
• Technological cat-and-mouse: Rapid emergence of mirror sites and encrypted platforms bypassing government firewalls
• Regulatory arbitrage: Exploitation of varying state-level interpretations of 'games of skill' vs 'games of chance'

Keywords: Regulatory framework · Cybersecurity · Digital governance · Real money gaming · Legislative enforcement

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