The Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) has reportedly cracked down on offshore online gaming platforms offering betting services ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The DGGI is closely monitoring offshore entities, which fall outside the purview of Indian laws, according to a report in The Economic Times.

“Given the IPL is going to kick off tomorrow, a lot of offshore applications offering illegal betting are active. Since they are registered abroad, they defy Indian laws and operate without paying GST,” an unnamed senior government official was quoted as saying by ET.

As per the department, around 700 offshore entities involved in the operations of online money gaming/betting/gambling

are under scrutiny, the report said. As many as 357 websites/URLs of illegal/non-compliant offshore online money gaming entities have reportedly been blocked as part of the DGGI’s enforcement actions.

The department has also provisionally attached 2,000 bank accounts, the report noted. In a statement cited by the outlet, DGGI said another 392 bank accounts linked to UPI IDs mentioned on the websites of some of the entities under its scanner have been subjected to debit freeze.

Three individuals have also been arrested as part of the crackdown. They were allegedly involved in facilitating online money gaming to Indian customers through different online platforms, the probe against them has found. The DGGI claimed that the arrested people were using mule bank accounts to collect money from the customers.

The report came just a day after a case was registered by Hyderabad police against 25 prominent celebrities and social media personalities over their alleged endorsement of illegal betting apps. The FIR has reportedly named actors Prakash Raj, Rana Daggubati, and Vijay Devarakonda, among others.

The 2025 edition of the popular T20 cricket tournament is set to begin on Saturday with reigning champions KKR facing RCB at the Eden Garden stadium.