By Neha Bhattacharya
Reviewed by Rajeev SatheThe fastest free option is Tele-MANAS on 14416. It is open at any hour, in 20 languages. The Vandrevala Foundation takes calls and WhatsApp messages on +91 9999 666 555, round the clock. Then there are KIRAN, iCALL, two NIMHANS services in Bengaluru and five Gamblers Anonymous groups. That is all we could verify.
Each line below comes with its owner, its hours and the source we checked. We also say what the first call is like. And we list the help we looked for but could not find.
Start here if today is bad
Call Tele-MANAS on 14416. It is free. It answers at any hour. You need no appointment. The service runs in 20 languages, and each state picks its own (PIB, November 2025). The long form of the number is 1-800-891-4416 (PIB).
You may find it easier to type than to talk. The Vandrevala Foundation takes messages on WhatsApp on +91 9999 666 555. It says the service runs 24 hours a day, all year (Vandrevala Foundation).
Neither line is built for gambling alone. Say it in your first line anyway. Try this: I am losing money on betting and I cannot stop. That is enough to start.
The rest of this page can wait until after the call.
The lines we verified, one by one
We opened each source ourselves. Government lines come from press notes or a ministry helpline page. Charity lines come from the charity's own site. Where a page gave no hours or languages, we left the cell honest. We did not fill it in.
Table 1. Verified help lines, with owner, hours and source
Service | Number | Who runs it | Hours | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tele-MANAS | 14416, or 1-800-891-4416 | National Tele Mental Health Programme, Government of India | Round the clock, free | 20 service languages (PIB) |
KIRAN | 1800-599-0019 | Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities | 24 hours, 7 days | |
Vandrevala Foundation | +91 9999 666 555, call or WhatsApp | Vandrevala Foundation, a charity | 24 hours, every day | Not listed on the foundation’s own page (Vandrevala Foundation) |
iCALL | 9152987821, or 022-2552 1111 | School of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences | Monday to Saturday: 10 am to 8 pm on 9152987821, 8 am to 10 pm on 022-2552 1111 | |
104 Health Helpline | 104, Tamil Nadu only | Tamil Nadu Health System Project, with the state government | 24 hours | Not stated (TNHSP) |
NIMHANS Centre for Well Being | 080 2668 5948 | NIMHANS, Bengaluru | Not published on the NIMHANS page | Not published (NIMHANS) |
Two notes on the table. One PIB press note about KIRAN prints 1800-500-0019 alongside 1800-599-0019 (PIB). Every other official source gives only 1800-599-0019: the launch release headline (PIB) and the department’s own helpline list (DEPwD). We treat 1800-599-0019 as the number and the other as a typo in that one note.
Second, the two iCALL time windows belong to two different lines, not to one. Its own site gives Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 8 pm, on 9152987821 (iCALL). The TISS project page gives Monday to Saturday, 8 am to 10 pm, on 022-2552 1111 (TISS). Late in the evening, dial the landline. After 10 pm, use a line that runs round the clock.
What the first call is actually like
Most people put this off because they do not know what happens. So here is the shape of it. Nothing is added for effect.
You dial. A recorded voice asks you to pick a language, then your state. It then puts you through to the centre for that state. The KIRAN launch note sets out that flow (PIB).
A counsellor picks up. They will ask what is going on. There is no test and no score. You can say as little as you like. You can say the word betting right away.
Expect the call to be about you, not about cricket. Sleep. Money worry. What you have tried. Who knows. The counsellor may point to a next step, such as a clinic. They may offer to call you back. Tele-MANAS is set out as a service with call backs for follow up (PIB).
Two honest points. Nobody will fix your debt on that call. And you may cry, which is common and fine. Getting the first line out is the hard part. After that, the counsellor drives.
If the line is busy, hang up and dial again. Tele-MANAS was reported to take about 3,500 calls a day (PIB). Busy is not the same as closed.
If you would rather see someone in person
Clinics exist, and you can walk in. NIMHANS in Bengaluru runs a Centre for Addiction Medicine. Its outpatient desk works on Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 am. New sign-up shuts at 11.30 am. A first visit needs no appointment (NIMHANS Centre for Addiction Medicine).
The centre also lists 80 inpatient beds. It lists one-to-one and family counselling, plus aftercare (NIMHANS CAM). Its pages set out work on drug and drink use. Gambling is not named on those pages, so ask on the phone whether they see this kind of habit too.
NIMHANS also runs a service for healthy use of technology. It sits at the Centre for Well Being, on 080 2668 5948 (NIMHANS). That page carries the number, the BTM Layout address and an email, and nothing else: no hours, no languages and no list of what the service treats. Press reporting says the clinic has worked on compulsive gaming and online gambling since 2014 (The News Minute), but that is a newspaper, not the institute’s own page.
Outside Bengaluru, ask on a helpline call for the nearest state mental health unit. Tele-MANAS ran 53 cells across 36 states and union territories as on 27 November 2025 (PIB). A cell in your state can point you to something local.
Free meetings with people who have been there
Gamblers Anonymous is a peer group, not a clinic. There is no fee and no doctor. People who have had a gambling problem meet and talk.
Its own meeting list gives these groups in India (Gamblers Anonymous):
Table 2. Gamblers Anonymous groups listed in India
Group | Day and time | Where | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
Chaitanya G.A. | Saturday, 7 pm to 9 pm | Thane, Maharashtra, near Bhanushali Hospital | Not stated |
Delhi G.A., New Life Group | Friday, 7 pm to 8 pm | New Delhi 110022; hotline +91 88269 04945 | Not stated |
Hyderabad G.A. | Saturday, 7 pm to 8 pm | YMCA Secunderabad, Sardar Patel Road | Open meeting |
New Leaf G.A. | Sunday, 11 am | T. Nagar, Chennai | Not stated |
Sanjeevani G.A. | Monday, 7.30 pm to 9 pm | Dombivli West, Maharashtra | Closed meeting |
The two meeting types matter. A closed meeting is for people who have a gambling problem, or think they may have one, and who want to stop. An open meeting can also be joined by a spouse, family and friends, who watch (Gamblers Anonymous).
Listings change. Check the list again before you travel. Use the Delhi hotline if you cannot tell whether a group still meets.
What we looked for and could not find
We list the gaps here. A wrong number is worse than a missing one.
A national helpline made for gambling harm alone. We read government press notes and the helpline lists of two ministries and found none.
Any state helpline set up just for harm from betting.
A line for gambling advice in Hindi, or in any other Indian language.
An official NIMHANS page saying that its technology service treats gambling. Only press reporting says so.
That is what our search found on 23 August 2026. If a service like this opens, or if we have missed one, we will add it and date the change in the corrections log.
We will not fill these gaps with a number that merely looks right. If you know of a service with an official page, send it to us through the contact page, and we will check it. Fixes are logged on our corrections page.
Stopping the money while you wait
Help takes days. Money leaves in minutes. So do one thing about the money before the next match.
Your bank must let you switch card use on and off by type. It must also let you change your limits. That has to work at any hour. It must work in the app, in net banking, at an ATM, or through an IVR menu (Reserve Bank of India). Switching online card use off is the fastest step most people have.
Then block the apps and the web addresses on the phone itself. Our page on limits and self-exclusion gives the steps for each system. It also shows how each block gets undone.
If money is already stuck with a platform, that is a separate fight. See frozen payments and chargebacks. Any win you had was taxed at a flat 30% under Section 115BBJ (Income Tax Department). We unpack that on the TDS page.
If you are calling for someone else
You can use these lines yourself. That holds even if the person who bets will not. Counsellors talk to family too. The KIRAN note names families, parent groups and others among the people it serves (PIB).
Do three plain things. Protect shared money first. Write down what is owed, and to whom. Then decide what you will and will not pay. Say it once, and stay calm.
Do not clear a debt in secret and stay quiet. It hides the cost and teaches nothing. If you have done it, that is common. It is a reason to call a counsellor, not a reason to feel shame.
Look after yourself too. Living with someone else's betting wears people down. The KIRAN and Tele-MANAS lines are open to you in your own right. You are not just a messenger.
Our warning signs page sets out the habits worth watching for.
If a number here does not work
Numbers change and lines go down. Try the other number on the same row first. Then try a line that runs 24 hours. Tele-MANAS and the Vandrevala Foundation both publish round the clock service (PIB, Vandrevala Foundation).
Then tell us, so the next person does not lose that time. Our checks are set out in how we test and verify.
Two last reminders, with no lecture. Real-money online gaming has been banned across India since 1 May 2026 (Nishith Desai Associates). So there is no licensed operator here to complain to. And nothing on this page asks you to call yourself a gambler. The rest of our harm pages sit in the responsible gaming section.
Questions people ask
Does any helpline in India deal only with betting?
None that we could find as of 23 August 2026. The lines here are general mental health services. They still take these calls. So state the reason plainly at the start.
Is Tele-MANAS free, and does it work outside office hours?
It is free, and open at any hour, on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416. The government also sets out follow up call backs (PIB).
Which KIRAN number should I dial?
Do I need a referral to visit NIMHANS?
Not for a first visit to the Centre for Addiction Medicine. It says walk-ins are welcome on Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 am. New sign-up shuts at 11.30 am (NIMHANS CAM).
Are Gamblers Anonymous meetings free, and can family attend?
The list gives no fee. It does say that an open meeting can be joined by a spouse, family and friends. A closed meeting is for people with a gambling problem (Gamblers Anonymous). The Hyderabad group is listed as open.
