India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has enforced a block on Polymarket as of May 22, 2026, and is preparing to issue a formal blocking order against CFTC-regulated Kalshi as early as Friday, a senior MeitY official told The Print. The action marks the most direct enforcement India has taken against global prediction market platforms under the country's new gaming legislation.
Polymarket, the world's largest decentralised prediction market by volume, went dark for users in India on May 22. Attempts to reach polymarket.com return "This site can't be reached," according to CoinDesk reporting published at 5:14 a.m. UTC on May 22, 2026. "We have already issued a blocking order to Polymarket and are in the process of issuing an order to Kalshi as soon as Friday," the MeitY official told The Print, speaking anonymously.
The legal basis is the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 (PROGA), which received Presidential assent in August 2025 and came into force May 1, 2026 via gazette notification. PROGA draws a three-way classification: e-sports (skill-based, permitted), social games (non-monetary, permitted), and online money games, which are completely prohibited. Prediction markets — where users stake real money on binary outcomes including election results, asset prices, and political events — fall in the prohibited third category. The blocking orders themselves are expected to be issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the same provision used to ban TikTok in India in 2020. Non-compliant intermediaries face up to seven years' imprisonment and financial penalties.
The enforcement follows weeks of non-compliance. MeitY sent a letter dated April 25, 2026 to VPN service providers warning that Indian users were still accessing "illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms" despite "domestic prohibitions," directing internet service providers to terminate that access. Bloomberg reported on May 18 that Kalshi and Polymarket had continued allowing Indian users to register and trade throughout the ban period. Friday's formal blocking orders are the government's escalated response to that defiance.
Kalshi's position is legally notable: the platform holds a CFTC licence in the United States, making it a federally regulated exchange. That regulatory status does not shield it from Indian law. PROGA's prohibition is categorical — the statute bars offering, advertising, and all associated financial transactions without distinction based on foreign regulatory standing.
The crackdown lands inside a broader regulatory context. India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance met with Binance, WazirX and Zebpay in Delhi on May 20 to discuss the virtual digital asset industry, signalling active legislative interest in the sector. Separately, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed legislation on approximately May 19 making Minnesota the first U.S. state to ban prediction markets — a development the Trump administration has since challenged in court. The two actions are legally distinct: India's block stems from a blanket gaming prohibition; the Minnesota measure is a state-level securities and gambling statute. They should not be read as coordinated.
India has over 1.4 billion people and one of the largest retail crypto user bases globally. Enforcement against Polymarket and Kalshi removes both platforms from that market entirely unless users route around blocks via VPN — a workaround MeitY explicitly flagged in its April advisory as an avenue it intends to close.
Sources: CoinDesk, "India cracks down on prediction markets: Polymarket goes dark, Kalshi could be next", May 22, 2026. The Print, "Polymarket, Kalshi to go dark in India as Centre moves to formally block prediction markets defying ban", May 22, 2026. Inc42, MeitY VPN advisory, April 25, 2026. Bloomberg, "Kalshi, Polymarket Defy India Ban on Online Betting Platforms", May 18, 2026.