Inside Haryana’s New Gambling Law

The Haryana Prevention of Public Gambling Act, 2025, has been notified, repealing the Public Gambling Act, 1867, in its application to the state. The new law seeks to prevent and penalise public gambling, the operation of common gambling houses, betting in sports or elections, and match or spot fixing.

Here are some of the key features of the Act:

• Retrospective commencement: The Act has come into effect retrospectively from April 9, 2025.
• Definition of betting: Betting is defined as placing a bet, which is an agreement between parties on an uncertain event’s outcome, where the party making an incorrect prediction must pay or forfeit a monetary or non-monetary consideration. This includes betting via electronic communication.
• Exemption for games of skill: Games of skill encompass games where skill outweighs chance, with success mainly depending on the player’s knowledge, training, attention, experience, or ability. These games are excluded from the Act’s purview. The state may notify any games as skill-based.
• Penalties for gambling: Gambling in public places or common gambling houses is punishable with imprisonment of up to one year or with a fine of up to INR 10,000, or both. Subsequent offences will carry harsher penalties.
• Penalty for match/spot fixing: Indulging in match fixing or spot fixing in sports will result in a minimum of three years’ imprisonment, extendable to five years, and a fine of not less than INR 5 lakh.
• State’s power to exempt: The state government may exempt any market from the application of the Act’s provisions.

Impact on opinion trading platforms

The Act’s broad definition of a bet appears to include opinion trading. In response, a number of opinion trading platforms, including MPL Opinio, Probo, and SportsBaazi, have shut operations in Haryana. Such platforms have also come under heightened scrutiny in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Chhattisgarh.

Moreover, TradeX has ceased its real money gaming operations nationwide, citing 28% GST, and has now moved to a free-to-play, casual social gaming platform.

In April, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) clarified that opinion trading does not fall within its regulatory purview. By contrast, in the United States, such apps are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meanwhile, Probo has filed a civil writ petition bearing no. 16114 of 2025 before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, challenging the new legislation.