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- India's IT Ministry ordered VPN firms to block access to Polymarket
- Authorities state users are utilizing VPNs to bypass local betting restrictions
- Failure to comply could cost VPNs their "safe harbour" legal protections
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a fresh directive requiring virtual private network (VPN) providers to block access to outlawed betting and prediction sites, explicitly singling out the controversial platform Polymarket.
Under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA), real-money online gaming and prediction markets are banned across the country. However, the government has observed that citizens are easily bypassing these domestic restrictions by routing their connections through VPN services.
According to the Indian Express, the advisory warns that providers failing to act could lose their "safe harbour" protections under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. This crucial legal shield usually protects tech intermediaries from being held liable for the content accessed or generated by their users.
Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market where users buy and sell contracts tied to real-world events. The nature of the platform has faced scrutiny recently after a US Special Forces soldier won $400,000 betting on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro's capture, prompting insider trading concerns.
That said, Polymarket already "strictly prohibits the use of VPNs or similar tools to bypass geographic restrictions," as the company states on its website.
The battle against offshore betting
According to the MeitY advisory, users are circumventing the legal restrictions imposed on such platforms "by misusing VPN services to access these websites."
The government noted that merely blocking the websites at the ISP level has proven ineffective, stating that banned betting platforms remain readily accessible over a VPN connection. This, the MeitY explains, renders domestic website blacklists meaningless.
"MeitY hereby reiterates, with heightened emphasis, that all VPN service providers and other intermediaries must make reasonable efforts not to host or store or permit the access to any such platforms making available unlawful information, including 'Polymarket' and such other similar violative platforms operating in violation of law," the advisory read.
The government also highlighted that users are engaging in financial transactions through the conversion of Indian rupees into virtual digital assets such as USD Coin (USDC) or other stablecoins — another way that enables citizens' "participation in such platforms despite domestic prohibitions," the advisory reads.
A "tricky" enforcement problem
Despite the firm regulatory stance, Indian authorities acknowledge the technical difficulties of enforcing a VPN-level block.
IT Secretary S Krishnan recently admitted to The Indian Express that separating legitimate privacy-focused VPN traffic from illegitimate use was "tricky" and "an ongoing exercise."
The Indian government has a history of clashing with privacy tools. Previous regulations have ordered VPNs to block access to websites that unlawfully expose citizens' data.
Furthermore, many major providers pulled their physical servers from the country following controversial data retention mandates, a move that led experts to slam the enforcement in India.
For everyday internet users in India, the latest advisory reinforces the precarious legal position of privacy tools in the region. While using a VPN remains strictly legal, the escalating pressure on providers to police user traffic could lead to further friction between the government and global cybersecurity firms.
