Gangtok is not administered by a municipality but directly by the various departments of Government of Sikkim, particularly the Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD) and Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). These departments look after the civic functions such as garbage disposal, water supply, tax collection, license allotments, and civic infrastructure. An administrator appointed by the state government heads the UDHD. The Sikkim Municipal Act, 2007 has approved the formation of Gangtok Municipal Corporation to be made up of 12 wards and which shall take over the administration from the UDHD. 

As the headquarters of East Sikkim district, Gangtok houses the offices of the district collector, an administrator appointed by the Union Government of India. Gangtok is also the seat of the Sikkim High Court, which is India's smallest High Court in terms of area and population of jurisdiction. Gangtok does not have its own police commissionerate like other major cities in India. Instead, it comes under the jurisdiction of the state police, which is headed by a Director General of Police, although an Inspector General of Police oversees the town. Sikkim is known for its very low crime rate. Rongyek jail in Gangtok is Sikkim's only central jail.

Gangtok is within the Sikkim Lok Sabha constituency that elects a member to the Lok Sabha (Lower House) of the Indian Parliament. The city elects one member in the Sikkim state legislative assembly, the Vidhan Sabha. The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) won both the parliamentary election in 2004 and the state assembly seat in the 2004 state assembly polls.

Utility services
Climate
Culture
Civic administration