Asia: Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment

Intermediary liability in India is governed by section 79 of the Information Technology Act (“IT Act”).This section provides safe harbour protection to intermediaries for third-party information, subject to compliance with due diligence obligations under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Intermediary Rules”), particularly Part II, which governs intermediary conduct. On March 30, 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) released draft amendments for public consultation.

On April 22, 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) notified the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (“PROGA”) and its underlying rules (“PROGA Rules”), constituted the Online Gaming Authority of India (“Gaming Authority”) and granted powers of investigation to the cyber cell officers to investigate offences under PROGA.

April 22, 2026 marks the day India's online gaming sector stepped out of the grey zone and into a comprehensive, centralised regulatory framework. On this date, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) issued a series of Gazette notifications that together operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (“PROGA” or the “Act”) and the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 (“Rules”). Both come into force on May 1, 2026.