Flutter’s Junglee Games Fails to Appeal India’s Gaming Ban

Last year, India introduced a ban on online gambling, snuffing out the budding sector. While Flutter Entertainment’s Junglee Games decided to fight to the bitter end, a court has now rejected the operator’s demand to overturn the ban. The Court Rejected Junglee Games’ Challenge Junglee Games had challenged the government’s online gambling ban, which came into effect in May this year. The ban was approved in 2025 and marked the end of the burgeoning Indian iGaming sector. The case challenged the ban at the state level and concerned Tamil Nadu and Karnataka laws, which prohibit real-money online games, including those that rely on skill. Junglee insisted that skill-based games are not the same as chance-based gaming and that they should therefore be treated differently. Despite that, the Supreme Court insisted that betting on the outcome can turn skill-based games into gambling. As a result, it opted to uphold the ban on such products, saying that betting on games of skill does not enjoy immunity. India Ended Online Gaming Before Brazil Did While Junglee Games’ challenge failed to make a dent, the fight is not over yet. Gaming companies have taken the matter to court, questioning whether such an overreaching ban is constitutional. In any case, India’s decision to end its online gaming sector was a huge letdown for online gaming operators. Junglee’s owner, Flutter Entertainment, was forced to lay off roughly 350 employees due to the changes. In the meantime, Brazil did a similar thing, ending its fresh online gaming market less than two years after its launch. This forced many operators to close their local offices, sending shockwaves across the industry. Despite some claims that the ban has been a “populist move,” many gaming operators and suppliers said that they remain open to resuming business in Brazil, should the country change its mind.