On May 18, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent a letter to VPN providers, warning that players have been using their services to access prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket despite bans on the platforms. The ministry has revealed that the platforms are still allowing Indian players to trade on their platforms
On May 18, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent a letter to VPN providers, warning that players have been using their services to access prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket despite bans on the platforms.
The ministry has revealed that the platforms are still allowing Indian players to trade on their platforms even after the operations were made illegal from May 1, 2026, according to Section 69A of the country’s IT Act. Additionally, the country had also banned online money games in August 2025.
MeitY stated:
“Considering the serious nature of the situation, 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.”
As reported by Bloomberg, Kalshi’s legal counsel, Valeria Vouterakou, revealed that the company hadn’t been ordered to stop operations; however, they are ready to comply if the government instructs them to do so. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Polymarket commented that the platform is also continuously updating access based on restrictions and implements geoblocking in locations where prediction markets are banned, but India isn’t currently on its list of restricted countries.