India PROG Act and Rules in force; money-game advertising ban live (1 May 2026)
From 1 May 2026 the PROG Act prohibitions on offering, advertising and financially enabling online money games operate with the 2026 Rules. PIB and the later OGAI advisory both fix this as the enforcement date.
The OGAI advisory PDF dated 29 July 2026 (MEITYI-1.PDF) states flatly that the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. The April PIB backgrounder likewise pegs the Rules’ commencement to 1 May 2026.
From that date the Section 5–7 prohibitions are operative: no offering/aiding of online money games; no advertisements that directly or indirectly promote or induce play; no financial facilitation or fund authorisation toward such games. Section 9 penalties (imprisonment and fines, higher on repeat offences) and Section 14 blocking powers sit behind those duties.
Limits
| Field | Evidence or limit |
|---|---|
| Live date | 2026-05-01 |
| Permitted categories | E-sports and online social games under the Rules’ classification/registration architecture |
| Supreme Court challenges | Existence of litigation does not, on these documents, stay the Act |
| UA implication | Hard stop on money-game adjacent India UA creatives and payment CTAs; keep F2P social/e-sport messaging free of stake/cashout inducements |
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