Polymarket goes offline in India after government enforcement order

Polymarket has been blocked in India after authorities tightened enforcement against what they classify as illegal online money gaming platforms.

According to an April 25 advisory issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), internet service providers and VPN operators were instructed to prevent local users from accessing “illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms,” with Polymarket listed among the key targets.

Users across India attempting to access the platform are now met with a connection error page stating that the website cannot be reached. Refreshing the page does not restore access.

People familiar with the matter told local media that MeitY has already issued a blocking order against Polymarket and could soon take similar action against Kalshi, a U.S.-regulated prediction market platform overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As of publication, Kalshi remains accessible inside India.

Indian authorities have increasingly grouped prediction markets under the category of “online money games” under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025. Under the law, any platform that allows users to deposit real money on uncertain outcomes can fall under prohibited betting activity, regardless of whether the operator presents the service as a forecasting or research tool.

Government officials have argued that platforms tied to binary event speculation expose users to financial distress and gambling-related harm, particularly among younger digital-native users. Regulatory documents tied to the PROG framework also describe offshore prediction markets as high-risk platforms due to their use of crypto payments and stablecoin-based settlement systems.

crypto.news has reached out to Polymarket for comments, but has not heard back as of publication time.

India tightens oversight on speculative crypto-linked platforms

At the same time, Indian regulators have continued to scrutinize crypto-related financial activity through the lens of capital controls and anti-money laundering oversight.

Policy discussions inside the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India have repeatedly focused on concerns that decentralized platforms allow users to move capital outside the domestic banking system through stablecoins such as USDC. Parliamentary discussions tied to the virtual digital assets sector have also treated these channels as potential routes for tax evasion and unmonitored capital outflows.

Earlier this week, India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance met representatives from crypto exchanges, including Binance, WazirX, and ZebPay, in New Delhi to discuss taxation and regulation tied to the country’s virtual digital asset industry. According to local reports, committee members raised concerns over large capital movements through crypto channels.

Rather than introducing a direct constitutional ban on cryptocurrencies, Indian authorities have relied on what industry participants commonly describe as a “shadow ban” approach. The government has imposed a flat 30% tax on crypto gains alongside a 1% tax deducted at source on transactions, while simultaneously placing the sector under Financial Intelligence Unit monitoring and compliance rules.

Several crypto startups have since relocated operations to jurisdictions such as Dubai and Singapore, citing regulatory uncertainty and restrictive taxation policies in India.

Prediction markets banned across several jurisdictions

Pressure on prediction markets has also intensified outside India. In March, Argentina ordered internet providers to block Polymarket after a Buenos Aires court concluded that the platform operated outside the country’s gambling framework. 

Authorities in Argentina raised concerns tied to crypto-based payments, limited identity verification standards, and the platform’s handling of markets linked to sensitive economic data.

More recently, crypto.news covered that Minnesota became the first U.S. state to ban prediction markets.

Last year, regulators in Colombia and Romania also restricted access to Polymarket after classifying it as unauthorized gambling activity within their jurisdictions.