India's Competition Commission has closed its antitrust investigation into Google's real-money gaming policies after new legislation effectively banned the entire online gaming-for-money sector in the country.
WinZO Games filed the complaint in 2022, accusing Google of abusing its dominant position through Play Store and Google Ads policies. The core allegation: a pilot programme allowed only daily fantasy sports and rummy apps into the store, excluding other real-money gaming products.
CCI launched a detailed probe in November 2024, finding a prima facie breach of competition rules. Google proposed allowing skill-based real-money games and advertising for certified products. But on 1 May 2026, India's online gambling regulation law took effect, banning real-money games, their advertising and payment processing — without distinguishing between chance and skill.
Google shut down its real-money gaming pilot and stopped accepting ads for the category in January. WinZO requested withdrawal of the complaint at a 25 August hearing. CCI noted it was not obliged to close cases on request alone, but concluded independently that further proceedings were pointless since the original remedies were no longer possible.
The regulator reserved the right to reopen the investigation if the law is stayed, repealed or revised and anti-competitive practices return.
