The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) in an advisory has directed virtual private network (VPN) providers to ensure that their platforms are not used to access banned online betting and prediction market platforms such as Polymarket. The directive comes as prediction market sites are finding traction among Indian users, despite the online gaming Act prohibitively placing a ban on such services. It is worth noting that the advisory, issued earlier this week, explicitly names Polymarket. Despite the ban though, prediction markets such as Polymarket are rife with questions in the country, ranging from likely poll results in states that recently held Assembly elections, to outcomes of domestic cricket games. The Indian Express earlier reported that a market predicting the winner of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Election has received bets up to $16 million, as of Monday (April 27). While the Indian government has blocked access to various prediction market sites such as Polymarket, the ban is not uniform.…