India and Bangladesh tighten laws on online cricket betting after raids and bans
Bangladesh and India have moved to curb online cricket betting, with Bangladesh’s parliament passing the Gambling Prevention Bill on 30 June 2026 following raids in Dhaka in 2019, and India’s Parliament enacting a sweeping ban on online gambling in August 2025.
Raids on sporting clubs in Dhaka in 2019 uncovered gambling and illegal casinos and resulted in more than 250 arrests, law enforcers said, though betting continued via mobile apps and websites using bitcoin and other digital currencies. Bangladesh passed a new law on online gambling in 2026; telecomasia.net has provided a breakdown of the betting rules. On 30 June 2026 parliament approved the Gambling Prevention Bill, which replaces the colonial-era Public Gambling Act of 1867, and lawmakers removed the gambling clause from the cyber law the same day. The act took effect on 1 July.
In May 2025 the Criminal Investigation Department began a nationwide campaign against online gambling and betting under the Cyber Security Ordinance 2025, which had made online gambling a crime. The CID said it had identified more than 1,000 mobile financial service agents suspected of handling payments tied to illegal gambling and sent their names to Bangladesh Bank.
India’s 2025 law prompted a sharp contraction of the online gambling market; official figures cited by lawmakers said companies had been stripping $2.3 billion a year from 450 million people. Dream11, the largest fantasy sports platform in India, posted notices that its cash games and contests had been discontinued and withdrew from its $43 million deal with the BCCI, with its logo no longer appearing across the shirts of India’s players. Jamshed Noor, a butcher in Delhi, told AFP his best win on a fantasy app had been 600 rupees, about a day’s wage for a labourer. He plays for the love of cricket, he said, and money was certainly a draw, but he has kept playing now that cash is off the table.
The financial fallout extended to broadcast advertising around major competitions: Santosh N, of D and P Advisory, estimated fantasy and crypto platforms could account for as much as 40 percent of advertising revenue earned by IPL broadcasters in 2025. In Bangladesh’s BPL an independent committee formed by the BCB found 36 suspicious incidents in the 2024-25 season and more than 140 across the last five editions, flagging episodes such as bowlers conceding wides one after another, deliberate no balls, unusual team selection and slow batting in run chases. The Bangladesh Cricket Board says it follows the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Participants.
The BCB moved to enforce its rules in May 2026, charging a domestic cricketer and several team officials over betting breaches and obstruction of its probe into the 2025-26 season. Player Amit Mojumder and team manager Rezwan Kabir Siddique were charged with placing, accepting or laying bets in relation to matches.
Under the Gambling Prevention Act 2026, online or remote gambling can attract up to five years in prison, and running online betting or bookmaking up to seven years. Fans of fantasy apps may still participate for prizes rather than cash, because the law bans money games and Dream11 discontinued its cash contests.