- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Admin Super
The laws concerning gambling in India are complex. You can bet on some sports and not others, and some states have different rules than others. To clear up the confusion surrounding India’s gambling laws, check out this complete guide.
The main piece of legislation concerning gambling in India is the Public Gaming Act of 1867. The act states residents of India cannot run or visit a public gaming house. However, today, the governments of each state have leeway to make their own decisions regarding gambling. There are currently three states which offer legal gambling:
India’s Information Technology Act of 2000 prohibits the publication of online information that can corrupt people, and the Federal Information Technology Act of 2011 restricts online gambling activities by holding internet service providers responsible. However, that doesn’t mean gamblers in India cannot bet online. While it’s not legal for online betting platforms to operate in India, it’s perfectly legal for Indians to place bets at offshore gambling sites. So, you can use internet bookmakers to place bets on sports, and you can visit an online casino to play slot games, table games, roulette, and other popular gambling pastimes. Also, in the state of Sikkim, the government can now issue licenses to operators who want to provide online gambling services within the state. But that is presently the only state allowed to do so.
Land-based sports betting in India is highly restricted, which means you cannot bet at local bookmakers on the country’s most popular sports like cricket. But with cricket being such a part of India’s national identity, many people wish to place bets on the outcome of matches, especially during important international tournaments. So, Indians have the option to turn to overseas bookmakers to access cricket, and other sports, markets, in which they can legally gamble. But if you are caught using illegal land-based bookmakers in India, you could face prosecution.
Horse racing has been very popular in India for a long time, and betting on horse racing is legal in India at the state level. In contrast to other gambling laws, you can bet on horse races in all states, as long as you bet on local races at actual racecourses. Bookmakers can offer their services legally at tracks, and tote operators can provide pool betting. For overseas races, you can bet on foreign online gambling platforms. Perhaps horse racing is the exception to other tighter gambling laws because horse racing simply wouldn’t have the same appeal if there weren’t any betting involved.
In addition to horse race betting, lotteries are also legal in India at the state level. The Lotteries Regulation Act of 1988 was passed at the federal level, and it allows state governments to authorise lotteries in their jurisdictions. The act states a maximum of one draw is permitted per week. But in actuality, that is not enforced very rigidly.
For most forms of gambling in India, you must be 21 years of age or older. The most noticeable exception to that rule is for lotteries. In most states, you can play lotteries if you are 18 years of age or older.
With the state of Sikkim leading the way in reformed gambling laws in India, and interest from notable international bookmakers wishing to win gambling licenses in the state, the complex gambling laws of India could change in the near future. With a more relaxed attitude to gambling across the country, a lucrative market could become established to make it easier for residents to gamble in India.
