India Proposes New Rules To Trace Gambling Funds

India’s tax intelligence agency has proposed new payment-record requirements aimed at helping authorities trace money linked to illegal online gaming and betting networks.

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) wants payment records to identify the website that directed a user to make a transaction. It has also proposed disclosure of every bank account connected to a website’s goods and services tax registration.

The recommendations follow a 14-month investigation that identified INR 700 billion ($7.4 billion) in transactions linked to illegal online gaming and betting networks during one financial year. The figure reflects transactions identified during the investigation and does not represent a final calculation of operator revenue, tax evasion or government losses.

Proposed Changes Target Payment Trails

Banks and payment gateways currently record the merchant receiving a payment. The DGGI says illegal betting websites can use proxy merchant companies to make it harder to identify the source behind transactions.

Recording the website that initiated or directed a payment would give investigators another link when examining the movement of funds. Authorities could then connect websites with merchants and the bank accounts involved in receiving or transferring money.

The DGGI also wants all accounts associated with a website’s GST registration to be disclosed. The proposal could therefore provide investigators with additional information when tracing financial activity connected with illegal gaming operations.

Several questions remain unresolved. Authorities have yet to determine which entities would collect and maintain the additional information, while the process for verifying the originating website also needs to be established. Gaming platforms, banks, payment gateways and aggregators could potentially have responsibilities under the proposed framework.

Consultation Precedes Implementation

The payment-data proposals remain under consultation and have not been finalised. Discussions will determine how information would be collected, stored and shared, along with which parties would have to meet the requirements.

The investigation also examined concerns that illegal gaming and betting networks could facilitate money laundering and other illicit financial activity. The precise amount of government revenue lost remains under investigation.

The proposals arrive after India introduced a broader legal framework for online money games.

Google Gaming Case Closes After Legal Changes

The regulatory shift has also affected a separate dispute involving Google and real-money gaming platform WinZO Games.

WinZO filed an antitrust complaint in 2022, alleging that Google abused its dominant position through Google Play Store and Google Ads policies. The Competition Commission of India ordered a detailed investigation in November 2024 after finding a prima facie basis for examining the complaint.

Google later proposed allowing permissible skill-based real-money games and related advertising under certification requirements. However, the 2025 legislation subsequently prohibited online money games, their advertising and payment facilitation without distinguishing between skill and chance.

Google ended its real-money gaming pilot and stopped accepting related advertisements in January. WinZO requested that its complaint be withdrawn during an August 25 hearing.

The CCI concluded that continuing the proceedings would serve no useful purpose because the relief originally sought could no longer be granted. It said the conduct could be examined again if the legislation is stayed, overturned or repealed and the alleged practices return.

Source:

“India proposes new payment rules to track gambling payments”, sigma.world, September 6, 2026