The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) in an advisory has directed virtual private network (VPN) providers to ensure that their platforms are not used to access banned online betting and prediction market platforms such as Polymarket. The directive comes as prediction market sites are finding traction among Indian users, despite the online gaming Act prohibitively placing a ban on such services.It is worth noting that the advisory, issued earlier this week, explicitly names Polymarket.Despite the ban though, prediction markets such as Polymarket are rife with questions in the country, ranging from likely poll results in states that recently held Assembly elections, to outcomes of domestic cricket games. The Indian Express earlier reported that a market predicting the winner of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Election has received bets up to $16 million, as of Monday (April 27).While the Indian government has blocked access to various prediction market sites such as Polymarket, the ban is not uniform. Kalshi, a US-based major prediction market entity, remains accessible in the country.Responding to a question by The Indian Express last week, IT Secretary S Krishnan said that the Centre was investigating how it could crack down on users accessing such markets via VPNs, saying separating legitimate from illegitimate use was “tricky” and “an ongoing exercise”.Also in Explained | Why a $400,000 windfall has raised concerns of insider trading on prediction marketsPrediction markets are platforms where users trade contracts tied to the outcome of real-world events, ranging from elections and policy decisions to commodity prices and even geopolitical developments. Prices on these platforms fluctuate based on demand, effectively reflecting the crowd’s collective assessment of the probability of an event occurring. Unlike traditional betting, they are often framed as information markets, valued for their ability to aggregate dispersed knowledge into a single, dynamic signal. Leading players include Polymarket, which focuses heavily on political and global events, Kalshi, and PredictIt, which is widely used for forecasting elections.What the advisory saysThe IT Ministry said that despite being banned in India, prediction markets and other betting sites are accessible in the country over a VPN connection, rendering the website blocking meaningless, and defeating the whole purpose of the ban.Story continues below this ad“MeitY hereby reiterates, with heightened emphasis, that all VPN service providers and other intermediaries must make reasonable efforts to not host or store or permit the access to any such platforms making available unlawful information, including ‘Polymarket’ and such other similar violative platforms operating in violation of law,” the advisory read.“It is further observed that certain users are circumventing the legal restrictions imposed on such platforms by misusing VPN services to access these websites. In addition, such users are engaging in financial transactions through conversion of Indian rupees into virtual digital assets such as USD Coin (USDC) or other stablecoins, thereby enabling participation in such platforms despite domestic prohibitions,” it added.The ministry said that VPNs and intermediaries allowing access to such platforms either directly or indirectly would be violating both the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act and sections of the Information Technology Act.A US Special Forces soldier’s $400,000 windfall from betting on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s capture has thrown a spotlight on the rapid rise, and risks, of prediction markets, where users wager on real-world events. Prosecutors say the soldier used classified information about a covert raid to place bets on Polymarket, marking what authorities describe as the first insider trading case tied to such platforms.Story continues below this adNewsletterFollow our daily newsletter so you never miss anything important. On Wednesday, we answer readers' questions.SubscribeThe episode underscores how prediction markets have expanded from niche experiments into high-volume platforms tracking everything from elections and wars to weather events. These markets, which allow users to buy and sell contracts tied to probabilities, are often seen as aggregating collective intelligence, but recent cases suggest they can also incentivise misuse of privileged information.Globally, regulators are scrambling to catch up. In the United States, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has stepped up scrutiny, while platforms themselves have begun flagging suspicious trades and tightening rules. Similar debates are emerging elsewhere, with concerns that betting on sensitive geopolitical events could distort behaviour or even create perverse incentives.