No online game has been granted registration under India's online gaming authority, the IT ministry told the Information Commission

What the route offers

The 2026 Rules came into force on 1 May 2026 ^[10]. Registration under the Rules reaches games offered as e-sports where the central government notifies it, and categories of online social game that the government notifies ^[6]. A successful application yields a digital certificate carrying a unique number and valid for up to ten years ^[7]. Determinations of whether a particular game is an online money game are to be made, as far as practicable, within 90 days ^[8]. The Online Gaming Authority of India is an attached office of the ministry, headquartered in Delhi, operating as a digital office and chaired by the ministry's Additional Secretary ^[9]. It was formally established by gazette notification on 22 April 2026 ^[12].

What the ministry has stated

The ministry's written submission of 8 September 2026 states that no online game has been granted registration under the Online Gaming Authority of India ^[2]. The same submission puts the total complaints received at 201 as on 1 September 2026 ^[3]. It was filed in a Right to Information appeal in which the applicant had asked how many online games are permitted to be operated, how many complaints the department had received regarding online games, and what action had been taken against fake online games running in the country ^[4]. Information Commissioner P R Ramesh held that the Right to Information Act covers information held on record and does not require a public information officer to create information, draw inferences or provide explanations, and disposed of the appeal on the basis that the available information had been disseminated ^[5]. The Press Trust of India reported both figures on 18 September 2026 ^[11].

The Authority's own site said something different in March

MediaNama reported on 27 March 2026 that the Authority's website was live but visibly unfinished, with multiple sections displaying under construction notices and placeholder names such as John Doe on its Who's Who page ^[13]. MediaNama reported that the homepage claimed 49 applications submitted and 22 approved, while the live registry showed 8 valid online games, 0 expired licences and 7 prohibited games ^[14]. MediaNama also reported that the registry entries appeared to be test inputs, including entries labelled test and test gaming demo, and that attached certificates returned 404 errors when opened ^[15]. MediaNama reported on 25 June 2026 that the Authority had published its registration application form while no functioning submission portal existed ^[17].

Two gates ahead of registration

The Act defines e-sports to include a game duly recognised under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 and registered with the Online Gaming Authority of India ^[16]. For online social games, the ministry's release on the Rules makes registration turn on categories the government notifies, and names no notified category ^[6].

What the record does not settle

Which body, if any, holds recognition under the National Sports Governance Act is not established by the definition the Act gives ^[16]. Whether the central government has notified any category of online social game is not stated in the ministry's release on the Rules ^[6]. What the 201 complaints concern, and what action followed them, the ministry did not say ^[3]. The Commission held that it could not require a public information officer to create that information ^[5]. Whether any application for registration was pending when the ministry filed its submission is not stated in it ^[2].