Why does this matter? If you use a VPN in India to reach blocked betting or prediction-market sites, access may become less reliable even if the VPN itself stays online. The bigger issue is not just Polymarket. It is that India appears to be pressuring VPN providers to actively help enforce website blocks, with potential legal consequences if they do not.
What actually changed for VPN providers in India
India’s IT Ministry has reportedly told VPN providers they must make “reasonable efforts” to stop users from reaching banned betting platforms, including Polymarket. The reported penalty is serious: providers that do not comply could risk losing “safe harbour” protections, which generally shield intermediaries from liability for user activity when they follow the law.
That is a meaningful shift in practice. Website blocking orders usually target internet service providers, platforms, or app stores. A demand aimed at VPN services raises the bar because VPNs are often used specifically to bypass local restrictions.
What “reasonable efforts” and “safe harbour” likely mean
The phrase “reasonable efforts” is important because it is broad. In practice, it could mean one or more of the following:
- Blocking access to specific domains linked to banned betting services
- Stopping traffic to known IP addresses associated with those services
- Removing related apps or connection options from India-facing products
- Responding to government notices faster and more consistently
The problem is that broad language creates uncertainty. Different VPN providers may interpret the requirement differently, and some may choose aggressive blocking to reduce legal risk.
“Safe harbour” usually refers to legal protection for intermediaries when users misuse their services. If that protection is weakened, a VPN provider may face greater legal exposure in India. For users, that matters because companies often respond to legal risk by adding restrictions, limiting features, or reducing service availability in the affected country.
Will this fully block Polymarket and similar sites?
Probably not completely, but it could make access less predictable.
VPN blocking is harder than blocking a normal website because users can switch servers, protocols, or providers. Still, government pressure can be effective if major VPN companies decide the risk is not worth it. The likely result is uneven enforcement:
- Some providers may comply and block access from Indian users
- Some may continue operating but quietly limit access to flagged services
- Some smaller or offshore providers may resist, though that can change quickly if enforcement tightens
Users should also remember that if a platform is banned locally, getting around the block does not remove legal or account-level risk. Access might still be unstable, and payments, logins, or related services may fail even if the site loads.
How this affects current VPN users in India
If you use a VPN mainly for privacy, work, travel, or public Wi-Fi security, this order may not change much day to day. But if you rely on a VPN to reach specific blocked services, you may start seeing server-side restrictions that were not there before.
The most likely user-facing changes are:
- Certain sites no longer loading on India-selected servers
- Providers disabling access without prominently announcing it
- Differences between desktop, mobile, and browser extension behavior
- Faster account scrutiny for activity tied to blocked gambling or prediction platforms
This also reinforces a broader reality: not all VPNs offer the same resistance to local compliance demands. A provider can still encrypt your traffic while choosing to block particular destinations.
What users should take away
The practical takeaway is simple: VPNs in India may increasingly be expected to help enforce access restrictions, not just provide encrypted connections. If the reported warning is applied broadly, users trying to reach banned betting platforms such as Polymarket should expect more disruptions and less consistency across providers.
For everyone else, this is a reminder to separate two different questions: whether a VPN protects your privacy, and whether it will let you reach every site you want. Those are no longer the same thing in markets where regulators are pushing VPN companies to police access.
Sources: TechRadar report