Is Satta King legal in India?

This guide summarises the laws that apply to satta in India, starting with the states where the best-known games carry their names. It quotes the statutes and official releases directly and links to each one. It does not tell anyone what to do in a particular case; for that, speak to a lawyer.

Who makes gambling law in India

State List Entry 34: betting and gambling

The Constitution gives "betting and gambling" to the states (Seventh Schedule, List II, Entry 34). In a reply to Parliament in March 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) said that under Article 246 read with Article 162, "State Legislatures have power to legislate on matters related to betting and gambling". Police and public order are also State subjects, so it is state police who act against illegal betting. That is why the answer to "is satta legal?" depends first on state law.

Union List Entry 40: state-run lotteries

Lotteries organised by the Government of India or by a State Government are a Union subject (List I, Entry 40). They are regulated by the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998, which lets a state run a lottery only under strict conditions, such as state-printed tickets and draws held by the state. A private satta draw is not such a lottery. Delhi's 1955 gambling Act also keeps lotteries out of its definition of "gaming", which is another reason pages should never call satta a "lottery".

Why courts say gambling is not a "trade"

In State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala (9 April 1957, AIR 1957 SC 699), the Supreme Court held that the makers of the Constitution "could never have intended" to raise betting and gambling to the status of a trade or business. Gambling is res extra commercium, a thing outside commerce, so it does not get the protection that Article 19(1)(g) gives to trades.

Skill vs chance, and why it does not help satta

Indian law treats games of skill differently from games of chance. The Supreme Court held rummy to be "mainly and preponderantly a game of skill" in State of A.P. v. K. Satyanarayana (1967), and horse racing a game of skill in Dr. K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu (12 January 1996). Many gambling Acts exempt games of "mere skill".

None of this helps satta. A daily two-digit draw involves no skill at all: the result is a number nobody controls or can foresee. It is a game of chance on any test. In May 2026 the Supreme Court went further in a tax case, DGGI v. Gameskraft Technologies (2026 INSC 595), holding for GST purposes that the character of betting and gambling depends on "the existence of stakes placed upon uncertain future contingencies", not only on skill or chance. That holding is limited to GST, but it shows the direction of the law.

The state laws, NCR first

Delhi: Delhi Public Gambling Act, 1955

Delhi's Act defines a "common gaming-house" to include a place used for gaming "on any figures or numbers or dates to be subsequently ascertained or disclosed", whether or not for profit. That wording describes number games like Gali and Desawar. Keeping a gaming-house carries up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of up to ₹1,000 (s.3). Being found in one carries up to 3 months and/or ₹500 (s.4). Gaming in a public street carries up to 3 months and/or ₹1,000 (s.12). Games of mere skill are exempt (s.13). We found no section of the Delhi Act on publishing results.

Uttar Pradesh: Public Gambling Act 1867, as amended (Ghaziabad, Noida)

Uttar Pradesh still uses the colonial Public Gambling Act, 1867, with its own amendments. The UP definition of "instruments of gaming" expressly includes "satta papers", meaning any document recording words or figures that evidence bets, and its definition of a gaming-house covers betting on digits. The skill exemption in s.12 was repealed for UP by U.P. Act 1 of 1917. The fines in the UP text are small and the sentences short, and we have not quoted them here because the available copies contain errors; check the official UP Code.

The courts have noticed the gap. In Imran Khan v. State of U.P. (May 2025, 2025:AHC:78538), the Allahabad High Court called the 1867 Act outdated for online betting and directed the state to set up an expert committee on a new law. In Kamran v. State of U.P. (2025), the High Court held that the s.13 offence of gaming in a public place is cognizable, so police may act without a magistrate's prior order. A draft UP gambling bill of 2021 was never enacted. For the Ghaziabad games, UP law applies.

Haryana: Prevention of Public Gambling Act, 2025 (Faridabad)

Haryana replaced the 1867 Act with its own law, Act 11 of 2025, in force by notification dated 21 May 2025. It covers betting "by means of electronic communication" and treats a computer network made available for gambling as a "common gambling house". The penalties are much higher than the old law:

• Gambling in a public place or gambling house: up to 1 year, or a fine of up to ₹10,000 (s.3).
• Owning or financing a gambling house: 3 to 5 years and a fine of up to ₹1 lakh; repeat offences 5 to 7 years and ₹2 to 5 lakh (s.4).
• Being part of an organised gambling syndicate: 3 to 5 years and ₹5 lakh (s.7).
• Anyone who abets an offence is punished as if they had committed it (s.6).

The Faridabad game carries the name of a Haryana city, so this is the law that applies there.

Rajasthan and Uttarakhand

Rajasthan's base law is the Public Gambling Ordinance, 1949. A 2021 bill on online gambling was reported but we could not confirm that it was enacted. In Uttarakhand, police still used the 1867 Act in an April 2026 betting case. A new Uttarakhand gambling bill was approved by the state cabinet in March 2026; its enactment has been reported, but it is not yet in force.

States with laws on publishing satta numbers

A few states go beyond betting and make it an offence to publish satta or matka figures in some circumstances:

• Bihar (Bihar Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2026, s.10): printing, publishing or circulating matka or satta digits "for the purpose of betting or facilitating betting" carries 6 months to 3 years and a fine of ₹10,000 to ₹1 lakh for a first offence.
• Madhya Pradesh (1976 amendment, s.4-A): printing or publishing "in any manner whatsoever" digits or figures relating to Worli Matka or other gaming. There is no intent element, and the figures are presumed to relate to gaming.
• Chhattisgarh (Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022, s.6): the printing and publishing limb also has no intent element.
• Maharashtra and Gujarat (Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887, s.12A): police may arrest without warrant anyone who publishes news or information "with the intention of aiding or facilitating gaming".

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita s.112: organised betting

Since 1 July 2024, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) has a central offence of "petty organised crime". Under s.112, unauthorised betting or gambling committed by a member of a group or gang is petty organised crime, punishable with 1 to 7 years in jail and a fine. The group or gang element matters: s.112 is aimed at networks, such as the bookies, collectors and payment handlers behind a satta operation, rather than at a single person placing a bet, who is dealt with under state law.

The Online Gaming Act 2025 and 2026 Rules

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (Act 32 of 2025) was passed in August 2025 and received the President's assent on 22 August 2025. It came into force, with its Rules, on 1 May 2026. Some early reports gave 1 October 2025, which was an announced target, not the commencement date.

What it bans: offering, advertising, payments

The Act defines an "online money game" as an online game, "irrespective of whether such game is based on skill, chance, or both", played by paying fees, depositing money or other stakes in expectation of winning money (s.2(1)(g)). It then bans three things:

• Offering online money games (s.5).
• Advertising them "in any media including electronic means of communication" where the advertisement "directly or indirectly promotes or induces" anyone to take part (s.6).
• Payments: banks and payment services must not process transactions for online money gaming services (s.7).

Satta booked through apps, websites or UPI wallets fits the definition. MeitY's blocking wave of 20 March 2026 expressly included "satta and matka gambling networks".

Penalties

Offences of offering and payment processing are cognizable and non-bailable (s.10). Section 9 punishes the person who offers the service or who makes or causes the advertisement. The Act also lets authorised officers search physical and digital places (s.16) and allows blocking of information about online money gaming services (s.14).

Players are not penalised under this Act (state laws still apply)

The Act creates no offence for simply taking part in an online money game; its targets are operators, advertisers and payment handlers. That does not make betting legal. State gambling laws still apply to the person who bets, and the Act says it is in addition to other laws (s.18). The Online Gaming Authority of India, an attached office of MeitY, keeps the official list of online money games.

The pending Supreme Court challenge

Several companies challenged the Act in the Karnataka, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh High Courts. On 8 September 2025 the Supreme Court transferred these cases to itself. The lead case is Head Digital Works v. Union of India. The challenges are pending. No stay or interim relief has been granted (as of 25 October 2026). On 5 August 2026 the court agreed to give the cases a final hearing. Until the court rules, the Act is in force.

Website and app blocking under IT Act s.69A

Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 lets the central government block public access to online content on grounds such as public order. The Supreme Court upheld it in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015). MeitY uses it heavily against betting: the government reported 1,410 blocking directions against betting, gambling and gaming websites and apps in 2022–25 (as of March 2025), and MeitY data reported in April 2026 put the figure at 8,376 URLs blocked or actioned as of 28 March 2026. These counts are from different dates and should not be added together. The Online Gaming Act's s.14 adds a further power to block information about online money gaming services.

Is it illegal to look at results?

No statute we found penalises reading published results. Laws in some states target publishing satta figures, and the Bihar and Maharashtra/Gujarat laws turn on a purpose of betting or of facilitating gaming. Whether those laws reach a neutral results archive has not been decided by any court. We do not give legal advice. What is clear is that betting on the numbers is illegal in most of India, and that a results page carrying betting adverts, app links, agents' phone numbers or "leak" offers is promotion. This site carries none of these; see our disclaimer.

Cheated or in trouble? What to do

• If you paid someone for a "leak" or "fix" number, or a betting app will not return your money, call the cyber-fraud helpline 1930 quickly and file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in. Quick reports give banks a chance to hold the money. Our scam guide explains the steps.
• If you are worried about your own legal position, speak to a lawyer. This page cannot advise you.
• If gambling is causing debt, stress or family trouble, call Tele-MANAS on 14416, free and at any hour; see free helplines.