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UPI in Indian Casinos
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Update, November 2026: Online casinos and other real-money games are now banned across India. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 became law on 22 August 2025, and it has been fully in force with its rules since 1 May 2026. Banks and payment services, UPI included, are barred from processing payments to real-money gaming sites, and the authorities have blocked thousands of gambling websites. The law targets operators, advertisers and payment providers rather than players. If you still choose to play at an offshore casino, know the risks: your payment can be declined or reversed, your bank or wallet account can be flagged or frozen, and blocked casino sites can disappear with your balance. These casinos are not licensed in India, so you have no local protection if one refuses to pay you, and gambling winnings are taxable in India.
This page explains UPI, India’s real-time bank payment system, and how it relates to online casinos. UPI is one of the most widely used payment methods in India, allowing low-cost transfers from one bank account to another. However, online real-money gaming, including casino games, is now banned across India under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, so you should understand the law before you consider using UPI for any gambling payment. Below we cover the legal position, how UPI started, and how it works.
Online Gambling Regulation in India
Online gambling is popular among Indian players, but the law has changed. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which received presidential assent on 22 August 2025, bans online real-money games across the whole country, and states can no longer license them. The Act is aimed at operators, advertisers and the financial services that support them, and the government can block non-compliant sites. In this article, we'll try to clear up what this means.
Before the 2025 Act, gambling was governed by the Public Gambling Act of 1867, introduced under British rule, and by the laws of individual states, which could legalise or restrict it. A few states, such as Sikkim, had set up licensing rules for online games. The 1867 Act never mentioned online gambling, which created legal uncertainty for years. The Online Gaming Act 2025 replaced that uncertainty with a national ban on online money games.
Lawmakers in India considered legislation to regulate online gambling in 2022, but instead of regulating it, Parliament passed the 2025 Act to ban online money games. The old idea that residents of some states could treat the 1867 Act as a legal loophole to play at international online casino sites no longer applies. Offshore sites that target India are not licensed in India, and playing at them carries legal and financial risk.
Under the 2025 Act, the government can block sites that offer online money games, and it has powers to act against operators, advertisers and payment providers. Banks and payment services are barred from facilitating such transactions, and card payments to gambling sites were already being blocked before the Act. The law targets operators, advertisers and payment providers rather than players, but your payment can still be declined or reversed.
UPI is different from the card payments that were blocked: it is a domestic bank-to-bank payment network launched by NPCI, and it is widely used for everyday payments, but payment solutions like UPI cannot make online money games lawful, and banks and apps may block or reverse gambling-related transactions.
UPI allows instant payments in Indian rupees. Because online money games are banned in India, we do not recommend using it for online casino deposits or withdrawals. In the following sections we'll tell you all about the terms and conditions you need to meet to use UPI, and how it works in general.
Using UPI Across Indian Online Casinos
UPI is short for Unified Payments Interface. NPCI (the National Payments Corporation of India) created it so that Indians could make multiple banking transactions in a few taps on a mobile phone, using their bank account. Through a single mobile app, users can make payments and receive money, and NPCI built it on the infrastructure of IMPS, an older payment service launched six years before.
The UPI app, however, was rolled out in 2016. RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan launched it on the 11th of April that year, and a pilot program began with 21 member banks. By the 25th of August of the same year, after an instant success, the app was already available on the Google Play Store, ready for users to download and start using. Since then, Indian users have been downloading and using the app to initiate money transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and have access to all the funds on all of the bank accounts they have with the member banks. They’ve been able to use all of the banking services the solution offers in just a few taps on their smartphones.
To use UPI for everyday payments you must be an Indian resident with a bank account at a member bank. Download a UPI app, register with your mobile number, and create a UPI ID (also called a virtual payment address) that you use to receive money. You then set a UPI PIN to approve payments. The Product Overview page on NPCI’s website explains the steps.
You then link the bank accounts you hold with member banks. In the app, tap Link/Add/Manage Account and enter the account number, then the last 6 digits of your debit card number and the card’s expiry date, and finally press Submit. After that the account can be used for everyday payments. It does not make casino payments allowed, and banks and apps may block them.
Casinos for Players from India that Offer UPI
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Depositing and Withdrawing with UPI
Some offshore casinos that target Indian players, such as MegaPari, 188Bet Casino and King Billy, have listed UPI. They are not licensed in India, we do not recommend them, and the 2025 Online Gaming Act bans online money games.
This page does not give a step-by-step deposit guide, because UPI payments to casinos are blocked or can be reversed under the 2025 Act.
Withdrawals have the same problem. Banks may not process payouts from real-money gaming sites, and NPCI ended person-to-person “collect” requests from 1 October 2025, so the old idea of requesting a casino payout through a UPI collect request does not apply. If a site is blocked or stops paying, there is no Indian regulator you can complain to.
Conclusion
UPI is easy to get started with and use, and it allows you to send and receive money in your native currency. For everyday payments it is a convenient choice, but because online money games are banned in India under the 2025 Act, we do not recommend using it for online casino transactions.
FAQs
Can I use UPI at online casinos in India?
Not in any way this site can recommend. The 2025 Act bans real-money online games and bars banks and payment services, UPI included, from processing payments for them. An advisory in July 2026 told banks and payment intermediaries to block such payments.
Why was my UPI payment to a casino declined?
Most likely because your bank or the payment network blocked it under the 2025 Act. Banks must decline payments to real-money online games, and a payment that goes through can still be reversed later.
Will I be penalised for paying a casino with UPI?
The Act targets operators, advertisers and payment providers rather than players. The practical risks fall on you, though: payments can be declined or reversed, your bank or wallet account can be flagged or frozen, and winnings are taxable.
Where can I get help with gambling problems in India?
If gambling is causing you or someone close to you harm, Tele-MANAS, India’s free national mental health helpline, is open at any time on 14416.
Other ways to pay in India
We also review these payment methods for players in India: Visa Debit, Amazon Pay, AstroPay Card, Payz, Netbanking, PhonePe, Google Pay, Jeton, Mastercard Debit, PayPal, Paytm, PayU and Skrill.