Is Gambling Legal? Indian Gambling Laws
Is online casinos illegal and forbidden? The short answer is; no. Gambling on the internet is not illegal in India. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
Gambling in India is forbidden since the British Rule in India. There are rules against gambling in India. However, gambling is a state subject. For example, Goa and Sikkim are the two states that have legalized gambling entirely between the boundaries of these states.
The Public Gambling Act in 1867 has made gambling prohibited in India during the time of the British Rulers. However, states like Goa and Sikkim have regulated gambling with significant regulatory leeway in these states. However, the Public Gambling Act was done before the advent of the online gambling scene. Hence the law only refers to gambling activities at physical premises.
Although gambling is getting popular in the world day by day, and it offers enormous revenues to the states, the Indian government was always against promoting any game of chance and probability in the country. Many Indian states, since British rule, have prohibited all forms of betting and gambling in their respective states, but so is betting legal in India?
However, Indian law about gambling is very indefinite, old, and is not very specific. The gambling regulating/prohibiting act of the country came to existence before the virtual or online betting has even stepped into the world, and the act has not changed since then. Hence, there was no mention of online gambling in the act. Besides, India does not even have an act such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 like America. Thus, online gambling is considered legal in the country as it has not been expressly forbidden in law and order.
The Gambling laws of India are old, and as we have mentioned, they are not very specific. That leads to confusion among some gambling enthusiasts of the country. Well, good news for them is, some states of the Indian sub-continent such as Goa, Sikkim, have made gambling 100% legal in their territory. Both these state governments earn massive revenue from the sport every year.
The Government Regulations: Past, Present, Future
The Past
The rules were stringent under the British rulers of the country. The Public Gambling Act prohibiting gambling came to existence under their rule, and many state governments back then have agreed to do the same in their respective states. There were only two types of gambling forms that were legal in the whole Indian sub-continent. One is a lottery, and the other one is Horse Racing.
The Present
As there are no specific rules about online gambling; thus, online sportsbetting is growing full-fledged in the country. Many national betting websites allow Indian gamblers to bet on different sporting events nationally and internationally. Many top international betting websites are also accepting bets in Indian currency from almost all the states of the country online.
The Future
Many states are debating with the central government to make gambling legal in India. Besides, while online gambling is so prevalent in the country, it will be dumb of us to think the government does not know about the activity countrywide. Therefore, if they wanted to make it illegal, they would have come up with a new law prohibiting online gambling in the country too. So, it will be safe to say that gambling has a future in the country.