Online gambling is on the rise in India. Both legal and illegal. There is a lot of confusion around laws and regulations related to iGaming in India, though. This is because there are no overarching national laws in the country. Instead, it is down to individual states to come up with their own rules.
On this page, we’re going to dive into the laws and regulations around iGaming in India. Although, do bear in mind that we cannot cover absolutely everything about the laws in the country. This is because a lot of it is indecipherable, differs between states, and some parts just are flat-out not enforced.
There is some demand for iGaming to become more regulated in India, so we hope that this is going to change in the not-so-distant future.
We’re Talking Specifically About iGaming Here
On this page, we’re specifically talking about iGaming, not gambling at physical casinos and bookmakers or standard online gaming.
In India, the bulk of the gambling legislation can be found under the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Since this piece of law is almost 150 years old, it makes zero reference to online gambling. However, it does prohibit gambling establishments. Although, as you’ll see later on, the legislation in some states has superseded this.
It is worth noting that the laws that do exist try to make a distinction between games of luck and games of skill. The latter is not technically gambling in India, since it requires skill on the part of the player. As an example, here, the Supreme Court in a few states has specifically stated that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance, which means that it is not classed as gambling and thus does not need to be regulated.
India introduced the Information Technology Act of 2000, which prohibits some activities online. Many people figured that this would be the time to introduce laws related to online gambling. However, India did not do so. The courts have even refused to examine whether this is related to online gambling. They have continued to leave it in the hands of the states to decide.
Some States Prohibit Online Gambling
There are only three states in India where online gambling has been specifically allowed:
– Goa
– Daman
– Sikkim
Some states have specifically outlawed it, although even then gambling is not technically illegal there, either. However, a bit more on that soon. All you need to know is that only two states have officially banned all online gambling for their residents:
– Telangana
– Andhra Pradesh
What we can say is that casinos in India cannot promote online gambling activities to residents of India. However, this doesn’t stop non-Indian companies from promoting to the residents of India. Although, more on that soon, too.
No Person in India Has Been Prosecuted for Online Gambling
At the time of writing, while online gambling is not exactly allowed in most places in India, nobody has been prosecuted for gambling online. We suppose it is because this is incredibly tough to regulate. While a couple of states have introduced laws that can lead people to have prison sentences up to 1-year for gambling online, nobody has been prosecuted. This is something that could change eventually, though.
The problem in India right now is the fact that about 50% of all gambling in the country is illegal online gambling. There would be a lot of people that need to be prosecuted. The better thing for India would be to introduce laws that would regulate gambling from a legal perspective, rather than flat-out banning it. Indians have already proven that they want to gamble online. The country just needs to do it in the right way and in a way which promotes players safety online.
Offshore Gambling Companies in India are Allowed
This is where things can get a bit confusing.
There are no laws that stop offshore gambling companies from advertising and accepting Indian gamblers. The only requirement is that they accept Indian Rupees as a payment method. Gamblers in India are allowed to gamble on these platforms without any restrictions (although, this is a very grey area in the two states we mentioned before). The only problem that Indians may face at these iGaming platforms is the fact that it can be hard for Indians to transfer their money to these platforms.
There are off-shore online casinos that have been tested by AskGamblers that allow Indians to gamble there without any issues. If you’re in India, it might be worth checking out some of these lists. They will make sure that you are gambling at a place that is fully accepted by Indian gamblers. It means that you should have absolutely no issues with depositing or withdrawing your cash on these platforms. Many of them will also have bonuses designed specifically for Indian gamblers.
The Future of Gambling Laws in India
The federal government has made it clear that they intend to shake up the gambling laws in India. However, the extent to which they are planning to do this is unknown. This is because gambling has always remained a state issue, and this will likely always be the case. However, we do hope that the federal government does give some sort of guidance for gambling laws in the states that refuse to make any sort of legislation related to online gambling.
What we can tell you is that new laws do need to be made. The Indian gambling industry is worth a lot of money, and it is only getting more popular. If the Indian government, and the states, do not introduce laws that legalise gambling, then a lot of the cash from gambling could end up being gambled illegally. This cash will likely filter through to organised crime (a big problem), and India could be losing a lot on taxes.
If any changes do get made to gambling laws in India, we wouldn’t be surprised if they happen over the next couple of years.
