India set to block Kalshi and Polymarket amid crackdown on prediction market apps
- ByStartupStory | May 26, 2026
The central government is likely to formally block US based prediction market platform Kalshi as early as Friday, according to a senior government official cited by The Print. The move comes as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) intensifies action against offshore prediction market platforms operating in India despite regulatory restrictions.
The move follows an earlier blocking order against Polymarket, which, along with Kalshi, has remained accessible to Indian users even after being declared illegal under the country’s new online gaming framework.
The websites of Polymarket and Kalshi are already inaccessible to users in India and are displaying error messages.
Bloomberg had reported on May 18 that both Polymarket and Kalshi were continuing to allow Indian users to sign up and trade despite warnings from Indian authorities. In an advisory issued last month, the MeitY said users were accessing “illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms” despite domestic prohibitions. The ministry specifically named Polymarket and similar platforms that were meant to be blocked by internet service providers.
The crackdown follows the implementation of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA), which was passed by Parliament in August 2025 and came into effect on May 1 this year. The legislation bans real money online gaming platforms while recognising esports and non monetary social games as legitimate categories. It also bars payment intermediaries and financial institutions from facilitating transactions linked to prohibited platforms.
Following the rollout of the law, several domestic operators exited the category. Indian opinion trading platform Probo shut down both its opinion trading app and fantasy cricket platform Team 11.
Besides Kalshi and Polymarket, platforms such as Bitclout, Hedgehog and PlotX also operate in the prediction and opinion trading space.
The government is expected to issue the blocking order under Section 69A of the IT Act, the same provision previously used to ban TikTok in India in June 2020.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
