CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES IN REGULATING ONLINE GAMING AND DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS IN INDIA

AUTHOR – S. PRAVEENKUMAR* & DR. ASWATHI SUKUMARAN**

* STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF LAW, VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)

** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT SCHOOL OF LAW, VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)

BEST CITATION – S. PRAVEENKUMAR & DR. ASWATHI SUKUMARAN, CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES IN REGULATING ONLINE GAMING AND DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (7) OF 2026, PG. 55-60, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I77

ABSTRACT

India’s digital landscape has shifted faster than its laws. In just a decade, online gaming went from a niche hobby to a multi-thousand-crore industry, while digital payment platforms quietly wired hundreds of millions of Indians into an always-on financial network. These two forces met in a legal no-man’s land — one where a colonial-era gambling law, a constitution drafted before computers existed, and a patchwork of contradictory state rules were the only tools available to regulators. This paper traces that story. It looks at how the industry grew, what problems surfaced, which laws were tried, and how fundamental rights constrain what the government can actually do. It ends by proposing practical ways out of the current deadlock — without sacrificing either consumer protection or constitutional principle.

Keywords: Online gaming, digital transactions, PROGA 2025, Public Gambling Act, money laundering, constitutional law, skill vs. chance, gaming addiction, data privacy, federalism.