Aug 24, 2026 | 3:29 am
India’s tax intelligence authorities have proposed additional payment-data requirements designed to make it easier to trace transactions connected to illegal online gaming and betting operations.
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) put forward the recommendations following a 14-month investigation that identified INR 700 billion ($7.4 billion) in transactions linked to illegal gaming and betting networks during one financial year.
The proposed system would add information about the website behind a transaction to payment records. Authorities also want disclosure of all bank accounts associated with a website’s goods and services tax registration.
Officials have yet to finalise the requirements, including which businesses would collect the additional information and how they would verify the website responsible for directing a payment.
The consultation comes several months after India implemented legislation prohibiting online money games, along with advertising and payment services connected to them. A separate competition case involving Google and real-money gaming apps has since ended because the new legal framework changed the market that prompted the original complaint.
Payment Records Could Identify Originating Websites
Existing payment records generally identify the merchant that receives a transaction. Authorities have encountered difficulties when illegal betting websites direct players toward proxy merchant companies, creating another layer between the website and the payment recipient.
The DGGI proposal would require payment records to include information identifying the website that initiated or directed the payment. Investigators could then use that information alongside merchant and banking data when following transactions through the financial system.
The agency also wants all bank accounts associated with a website’s GST registration to be disclosed. This measure could help investigators connect individual financial accounts with websites and merchants involved in illegal gaming activity.
Several details remain unresolved during the consultation process. Authorities have not decided whether gaming platforms, payment gateways, aggregators, banks or a combination of these businesses would have responsibility for collecting and maintaining the information.
The method used to confirm the originating website also remains under discussion. The final rules would need to establish how the information should be collected, stored and provided to authorities.
For banks and payment companies, the requirements could result in additional due-diligence responsibilities if regulators adopt the proposal.
The recommendations follow the DGGI investigation into illegal online gaming and betting networks. The INR 700 billion figure represents transactions identified during the investigation. It does not represent a final calculation of operator revenue, tax evasion or losses to the Indian government.
Authorities are continuing to examine the amount of government revenue involved. The investigation also considered concerns about the potential use of illegal gaming and betting networks for money laundering and other illicit financial activity.
Online Money Gaming Ban Reshapes the Market
India’s current regulatory environment changed significantly after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 and its supporting rules took effect on May 1, 2026.
The legislation prohibits online money games and prevents banks and payment systems from facilitating transactions connected to them. It also prohibits advertising for online money games without separating products according to whether they involve skill or chance.
The proposed DGGI requirements would add more transaction-level information to this framework, giving authorities another way to identify websites connected with payments moving through banks and payment providers.
The effects of the new law have also reached matters that began before the prohibition took effect.
India’s Competition Commission recently closed an antitrust investigation concerning Google’s policies toward real-money gaming applications. WinZO Games originally filed the complaint in 2022, alleging that Google abused its dominant position through its Play Store and Google Ads policies.
The dispute centered partly on a pilot that allowed daily fantasy sports and rummy applications onto the Play Store while excluding other real-money gaming products.
In November 2024, the Competition Commission of India ordered a detailed investigation after reaching a preliminary view that Google may have violated competition rules.
During that process, Google proposed opening access to permissible skill-based real-money games and related advertising, provided those products obtained certification.
Those circumstances changed after the 2025 legislation and its implementing rules came into force.
Google had already ended its real-money gaming pilot and stopped accepting related advertising in January 2026. WinZO later asked to withdraw its complaint during an August 25 hearing.
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Competition Case Ends Following Legal Changes
The Competition Commission said WinZO’s withdrawal request did not automatically require it to terminate the investigation. The regulator instead reached its own conclusion that continuing the case would no longer serve a useful purpose because the relief originally sought could no longer be provided under the new legal framework.
The regulator left open the possibility of reviewing Google’s conduct in the future. It said it could reconsider the matter if the law is stayed, overturned or repealed and the alleged competition issues appear again.
The decision shows how India’s prohibition on online money games has affected issues beyond direct enforcement against operators.
Meanwhile, the DGGI payment proposal remains at the consultation stage. Authorities still need to determine which businesses will hold the additional payment information, how they will establish the identity of originating websites and how the records will be shared with investigators.
If implemented, the requirements would operate alongside the restrictions already applying to online money games and the payment systems used to process related transactions.
Source:
India closes Google real-money gaming antitrust case after legal overhaul, Asia Gaming Brief, agbrief.com, September 9, 2026.