Probo was a very popular app in India for opinion trading. Users only need to answer simple yes or no to the questions about real world events.
For example, they guess if a cricket team will win a match for which they use real money to make these trades. If their guess is right, they earn profits and they lose their money if it is wrong.
The app became very famous, but it faced serious challenges. The legal environment changed completely in 2025. The government stopped Probo from running its real money operations.
The New Online Gaming Law
The main reason for the ban was a strict new law passed in August 2025. The Indian parliament cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act in which it prohibits all kinds of online games completely that involve prediction with real money.
The government created this law to protect citizens for various reasons which are as follows:
- Lawmakers were worried that real money apps bring heavy financial losses to normal families.
- They wanted to prevent serious online gaming addiction among young people.
- The law needed a blanket ban which force Probo to immediately stop all its real-money trading services.
Illegal Betting and Gambling Charges
Even before the new law, Indian authorities were watching Probo closely. The Enforcement Directorate investigated the app under money laundering laws.
Government officials argued that the yes-or-no trading format was not a game of skill. Instead, they claimed it worked like illegal prediction games.
The investigation revealed that the app generated huge amounts of money through these disguised prediction methods. Because of these serious findings, the government froze more than ₹400 crore of Probo’s assets.
Financial License Violations
The stock market regulator SEBI also raised red flags about the platform. SEBI issued a public warning about opinion trading apps:
- No Valid License: SEBI clarified that Probo was not a recognised stock exchange and did not have a proper financial license.
- Illegal Derivatives: The regulator stated that these opinion contracts looked too much like illegal financial derivatives.
- No Protection: This violated the Securities Contracts Regulation Act, which means users had zero investor protection if things went wrong.
Safety and Identity Risks
Government authorities also found major safety flaws on the platform. Probo did not perform proper Know Your Customer identity checks.
As there was no strict verification, minors can easily join the platform. Young children were using real money to trade on opinions. This lack of safety controls led the government to take strict action against the platform.