Hyderabad: Although it was the first Indian state to impose a full ban on online gaming in 2017, Telangana continues to witness a sharp rise in illegal online gambling and gambling activities.
Driven by foreign platforms, anonymous digital transactions and unregulated mobile applications, this underground ecosystem has become more complex, elusive and dangerous.
Delhi-based NGO Prahar, working at the intersection of digital governance and national security, announced the launch of a large-scale citizenship survey among 2,500 respondents in Telangana. The goal is to understand how people perceive online gambling and gambling and online gaming, what they want from regulation and how to ensure compliance by establishing consistency between public expectations and government actions.
Research shows that despite the great empowerment of the rapid penetration of India’s digital ecosystem (even at the grassroots level), it also introduces new vulnerabilities. Hidden players are actively using this space to advance the agenda.
In the absence of a strong national regulatory framework, illegal betting and online gambling platforms have been weaponized into financial engines and recruitment portals. “The growing evidence shows that these groups are associated with actors and invisible hands, with more sinister intentions that would undermine India’s sovereignty and political stability,” said Prahar President and National Convener Abhay Raj Mishra.
He explained: “It is crucial that we understand what the people of Telangana are not only for better compliance but also for social consensus. Compliance becomes natural when there is no conflict between public expectations and government actions. That's why we are launching this investigation.”
The new program builds on two recent Prahar studies. The first titled “The Invisible Hand” discovers how to use a foreign-owned digital platform to lure Indian users and incorporate them into a cycle of financial utilization, data theft, radicalization and identity compromise.
According to the report's forecast, India could face 17 trillion cyberattacks each year by 2047. In Telangana, especially, cybercrime cases related to online gambling rose by more than 800% between 2020 and 2025, and money laundering, youth suicide and celebrity betting applications were carried out.
The second research work was a comprehensive survey of 5,000 youth in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli) focusing on their attitudes and behaviors towards online gaming.
Surprisingly, 75% of participants were unable to distinguish between legal and illegal gaming platforms, while 86% violated any form of game time or money restrictions. This reflects a broader view: Young Indians did not object to regulation, but they rejected blanket bans without clear laws or security alternatives.
These insights are particularly relevant to Telangana, which banned all forms of online gaming in 2017, including skill games. However, over the years, the illegal network not only survived, but expanded. In 2025 alone, the state has recorded more than 3,900 betting-related violations and has been booked with 25 celebrities and influencers for promoting banned betting platforms.
The use of VPNs, telegram groups, foreign hosting servers and proxy agents makes law enforcement very complicated. In addition, suicides in recent months by young competitors who are burdening with debt have made headlines.
What emerges from this is a worrying paradox: legal prohibition has not been translated into prevention in practice. In the absence of a reliable, accessible platform, citizens often have little understanding of legality, illegality, illegality, and how to make an informed choice.
To address this gap, Prahar’s Telangana survey will explore three key aspects: awareness, usage, and desire. What do citizens know about betting methods? How do they interact with online platforms? What framework do they think can work for them, their families and the entire society?
“Our role is not to open up policy solutions for Telangana,” Mishra added. “Our role is the voice that helps surface – because when regulation reflects the will of the public, it does not need to be executed. It is voluntary compliance.”
The findings are expected to be shared with policy makers, civil society and the public within a few months to promote data-driven dialogue to understand India’s digitally authorized but secure Indian solutions.
