Real-money games ban drove users to offshore platforms, survey shows

A CUTS survey finds offshore platforms gained sharply after India's real-money games ban, with their share of daily play rising to 42% and users spending more time on unregulated sites

After the Centre banned real-money games, many users moved to offshore platforms that are not covered by Indian laws.

 

How sharply did offshore gaming use rise after the ban? 

Before the ban, these offshore sites accounted for only 3.4 per cent of daily play. After the ban, their share jumped to 42.3 per cent, according to a CUTS International survey of users in Delhi-NCR.

 

What behavioural shifts did the survey observe? 

The survey said the ban may have contributed to increased migration to offshore platforms and a possible shift toward more frequent, routine usage patterns. This comes at a time when offshore entities are the only alternatives to real-money games.

 

How much more time are users spending on offshore platforms? 

The time spent on offshore platforms grew significantly. Before the ban, only 3.4 per cent of users spent more than two hours on these platforms. That figure grew to 44 per cent following the ban. As players spent more time on the platforms, their session activity also spiked proportionately.

 

Why are users returning repeatedly to these platforms? 

“This rise in repetitive, high-frequency play aligns with the findings that offshore platforms are perceived as very easy to use for deposits and withdrawals. 93.7 per cent rated the process as easy or very easy — making it simple for players to re-enter games multiple times a day,” the survey said.

 

Which offshore entities dominate user awareness? 

The survey named platforms such as Aviator Game (Crash Game), Stake, Reddybook.club, RajaBets, Parimatch and 1xBET/1xBAT as entities dominating user awareness.

 

What drove the shift toward offshore platforms? 

It said that the lack of regulated domestic alternatives emerged as the second most influential factor, indicating that the ban may have inadvertently encouraged migration to offshore platforms.