It’s not hard to see why illegal online platforms thrive. At a time when everything is one tap away, only a few players will pause to consider whether what they’re accessing is even legal. Unfortunately, this is what is happening in India. A recent report by CUTS International argues that illegal gambling platforms in the country received over 5.8 billion visits between April 2024 and March 2025.
Operators are taking advantage of gaps in legislation and wisely sidestepping established regulations to reach new markets. The sheer scale of this digital black market would make you think the law doesn’t exist at all. Surprisingly, the traffic share for platforms like Parimatch even surpassed that of widely used platforms like Amazon.
Perhaps the most unfortunate thing is that many users cannot distinguish between legal and illegal sites. But how is it that the Indian state-level laws have not been able to deal with this challenge? And what are offshore gambling platforms doing to avoid being caught? Well, if you have such concerns, you want to stay around to find answers.
Why do players prefer these websites?
One of the most pressing reasons Indian gamblers are shifting to offshore platforms is the heavy taxation imposed on domestic online gambling. In 2023, the Indian government implemented a revised Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime that applies a 28% tax on the full face value of each bet, not just on the gross gaming revenue (GGR) earned by operators. This means that for every ₹100 wagered, ₹28 goes straight to the government—regardless of whether the player wins or loses.
To put it plainly, the taxation isn’t just on the operator’s profits—it’s on the entire transaction. This has created a situation where the effective tax burden on real-money games can exceed 50% when layered with additional fees and costs. For players, this means less money in play and smaller potential returns. For operators, the shrinking profit margin makes it harder to offer competitive odds, bonuses, or platform upgrades.
Critics of the policy say it was rolled out hastily and without sufficient industry consultation, effectively kneecapping a sector that had been booming. Online gaming in India had been growing at an average annual rate of more than 28%, creating thousands of jobs, driving tech innovation, and attracting foreign investment. The GST shift, however, was seen as a direct threat to that momentum.
Faced with these new financial pressures, players and operators began looking for alternatives. Offshore gambling sites—often licensed in low-tax jurisdictions—offer the same games without the government’s heavy hand, making them instantly more appealing. These platforms can afford to offer bigger bonuses, lower house edges, and faster payouts—all while bypassing India’s strict tax and regulatory structure.
For the average user, this boils down to a simple choice: Stick with domestic platforms and lose nearly a third of every wager to tax, or move offshore and keep more money in play. In an environment where value and user experience reign supreme, it’s easy to see why many are opting for the latter.
Offshore gambling feels different
Interestingly, these platforms have a way of making the gaming experience tighter than licensed platforms. They know how to use features that players love, like online casino bonuses, to expand their reach. For example, where a local provider gives a 50% welcome bonus, an offshore site could offer even 200%. For players who don’t care about safety, thinking twice about which of the two websites to consider might not be an option.
Offshore platforms also know how to appeal to multiple preferences. Suppose you love casino gambling and support the NBA. If you want to place wagers on your favorite team, you can comfortably do that on an unregulated platform, without worrying about finding a different betting site. According to CSP Daily News, providing these one-stop experiences helps appeal to 75% of customers who want such convenience when shopping.
And when it comes to adjusting to modern preferences, illegal websites tend to be more adaptable than licensed counterparts. Of course, modern players want experiences beyond just spinning the reels and flipping the cards. They want fast and cheap transactions, fast-loading websites and seamless logins. And since they can easily find these features on offshore websites, it’s not surprising that they remain loyal to them.
How are Indians turning to these websites?
Some sources cite direct traffic as the primary source of user engagement on these platforms. Can you imagine that it accounted for over 3.5 billion visits? This means players manually copy links from private channels and even enter URLs. Take word-of-mouth referrals, for instance. Since most people trust them, players will easily sign up to a platform that their trusted friend recommends without confirming whether it’s reputable.
Other common triggers include celebrity endorsements, WhatsApp messages and mass media advertising. Regarding search traffic, the report noted over 652 million visits, with Google leading with a market share of 97%. This is why there have been concerns about how search engines successfully index illegal gambling platforms.
Referral traffic through affiliates and new coverage raked in 810.43 million visits. Social media, on the other hand, generated over 177 million clicks, with platforms such as YouTube and Facebook leading the way. On top of these access points, these casinos use other lucrative methods, like surrogate advertising, tempting offers like bonuses without deposit, to attract more players.
What can the government do?
According to reports, players mostly use the United Payments Interface (UPI) system to transact with these illegal websites. Mule accounts, sourced through Telegram and Facebook, are often offered as a service for collecting deposits. Digital wallets like Skrill and cryptocurrencies like Solana are also helping players bypass the Indian financial system entirely. To crack down on these illegal transactions, regulators can consider going after payment systems.
That said, the government is not asleep and has been intensifying its crackdown on offshore gambling. Early this year (2025), the Indian Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) blocked 357 websites and 2,400 bank accounts associated with these companies. At the same time, the DGGI confirmed it was inspecting about 700 unregulated entities for not registering and hiding taxable income.
However, blocking a URL or ad channel may yield minimal results, as operators can easily shift domains and attract a ready audience already seeking them out. This makes it very difficult to cut off offshore operators. It gets even worse considering the high taxes Indian players have to remit to the taxman. Maybe the government will need to rethink its regulatory framework as one of the main ways of dealing with this challenge.
