He has attempted to provide the audience with accurate information,” Gambling was first prohibited in India during the colonial period under the Public Gambling Act of 1867. This law made it illegal to offer gambling services on a federal level, as well as, prohibited the use of public gambling facilities. Betting or gambling is illegal in most of India. But there is no law that makes online betting an illegal activity. Offshore betting companies are apparently using this ‘loophole’ to lure.
Introduction:
Nowadaysmany of the people were showing interest towards cricket betting. Betting in Indiais illegal. Most of the lives of youth were being collapsed due to this cricketbetting. To stop cricket betting in India our parliament passed PUBLICGAMBLING ACT 1867 which is central law that prohibits gambling in India.Gambling is a state subject, only states in India are entitled to formulatelaws for gambling activities within their respective states. Further 7thSchedule entry 34 list II of the Constitution gives power to decide the lawsregarding gambling. This act prohibits visiting gambling houses and impose fineof Rs.100 and 1 month imprisonment. In some Indian states, the activity ofgambling irrespective of the medium through which such games are offered is anoffence, such as the states of Assam and Orissa. Online gambling is banned inMaharashtra and it’s an offence under Bombay wager Act. Indian law classifiesgames into:
1.Gameof chance.
2.Gameof skill.
Game of chance:A game of chance is a game whose outcome is strongly influenced by somerandomizing device, and upon which contestants may choose to wager money oranything of monetary value. Common devices used include dice, spinning tops,playing cards, roulette wheels, or numbered balls drawn from a container.
Game of skill:A game of skill is when a player invests his/her time in learning, practicingand refining his skill to perform in a particular game. The Supreme Court notedthat games of skill would be where success depends principally upon thesuperior knowledge, training, attention, experience and adroitness of theplayer. It is also noted by the Supreme Court that a game of skill have apredominance of skill factor.
What States Is Gambling Illegal
The Public Gambling Act however, createsan important exception in favor of games of skill by stating that theprovisions of the act shall be held to apply to any game of mere skill whereverplayed. Depending upon the type of game, the prize competitions Act, 1955(PCA)may also apply. The PCA was enacted to regulate certain type of competitions.In the case of R.M.D chamarbaugwala and another vs. U.O.I the SupremeCourt held that the PCA would only apply to prize competitions which were of agambling nature. However, due to the types of games covered under the PCA(i.e., crossword prize competitions etc.) there is an anomaly in the scope ofPCA, read with gambling enactments.
Recently, Paytm was removed from the Googleplay store because Google play prohibits online casinos and other unregulatedgambling apps that facilitate or promote sports betting in India and Googleplay store serve notices to Zomato and Swiggy for their betting advertisementsfor discounts to their orders. Information Technology Act, 2000regulates cyber activities in India in that it does not mention the word“gambling or betting” thereby the act was left for interpretation by the courtswhich have refused to examine the matter and there is nothing mentioned aboutonline betting in Public Gambling Act, 1867.
CASINO:Casino gaming(including slots and casino table games such as roulette and blackjack)
It is regulated under state wiseanti-gambling laws in India. Under most of the gaming enactments, casino gamesare treated as gambling activities in India, and are prohibited. This appliesfor both digital and land based casino gaming.
The state of Sikkim has enacted alicense regime to offer ‘online games’ through internet within the state ofSikkim under the Sikkim online gaming (regulation) Act, 2008. This licensecovers certain casino games like roulette, casino brag and blackjack.
Only the states of Goa, Daman and Diuand Sikkim casinos are legal. The casinos in Goa regulates casino games underthe Goa, Daman and Diu public gambling act, 1976(Goa Act). The casinos in Sikkimare regulated under Sikkim casinos (control and tax) act, 2002 (Sikkim casinoact). According to Goa, Daman and Diu public gambling act, 1976 casinos can beset up only at 5 star hotels or offshore vessels with prior permission of thecourt. In 2013, casinos contribute Rs. 135 cores to state revenue.
POKER:Skillversions of poker do not have a regulator in most Indian states. Only the stateof Nagaland regulates online games of skill. The Nagaland prohibition ofgambling promotion and regulation of online games of skill Act, 2016(NagalandAct) categories online poker as a game .of skill. In the case of Dominancegames Private ltd vs. State of Gujarat and others, the game of poker isillegal under Gujarat prevention of Gambling Act, 1887. The state of WestBengal has specifically excluded poker from the definition of gambling underthe West Bengal gambling and prize competitions Act, 1957.
RUMMY: In the case of State of Andhra Pradesh vs. K.Satyanarayana and others(2004) APLJ 14(DB) 3, judge bench the gameof rummy is not entirely a game of chance. Rummy requires certain amount ofskill, you need to memories the cards and for that considerable amount of skillis required.
LOTTERIES:Sec 294A Indian Penal Code specifically prohibits private lotteries. Thelottery law permit state government to organize, the conduct or promote lotterysubject to certain conditions. In some states lotteries are legal in bothvirtual and offline they are Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, WestBengal.
BINGO: Depending on the exact format ofbingo, it can fall within the definition of a lottery or under the generaldefinition of gambling under most gaming enactments, as it is a game of chance.In case of latter, it would be prohibited in most Indian states.
FANTASY BETTING: The residents of Assam,Sikkim, Telangana, Nagaland, Odisha will not be able to participate in thefantasyapp as the law is unclear ongames of skill may be played for a fee. They are not allowed to play onlinegames as it is confirmed by Dream11 on their official website. The High Courtof Punjab and Haryana in the case of Shri Varun Gumber vs. UT of chandigarhand others held that Dream 11 format of fantasy sport to be a game of skill.Thereafter the High Court of Bombay in Gurudeep Singh Sachar vs. U.O.Irecognized that the same format of fantasy sport was a game of skill. Somevirtual apps for cricket betting’s were William hill, bet365, Ladbrokes, Belfair,MPL, Betway, Daffabet.
HORSE RACE:Betting on horserace is legal because its skill based game.It is exempted from gambling act. In the case of K.R. Lakshmanan vs. Stateof Tamil Nadu 2003 6SCC 581 the high court held that it is a game of skill.Betting on physical horse races on race course is regulated by the turf clubsi.e., the race courses where physical horse races are conducted in india. Theseturf clubs operate under a license from their respective state government (licensinglegislations).
CONCLUSION:In current scenario gambling is illegal in India. Horse Race, Lotteryand Rummy are exempted from gambling because for these games, game ofskill is involved not by Luck.
India is a big country and the gambling culture there is unlike anywhere else. No other country is home to so many people that love to gamble and win cash. Now, the country is seen as the world’s largest and fastest-growing online gambling market. Still, there is a lot of confusion among the people over the legality of online gambling in the country.
Online gambling: legal or illegal?
Such confusion among the people is no surprise given the lack of clear rules in the country regarding online gambling, including those who might be using websites such. Gambling in India is primarily governed by the Public Gaming Act of 1867.
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This over 100 year-old act, however, makes no reference to online gambling. It is no surprise, considering the internet was not even in existence when this act came out. One can argue that the wording of the act bars anyone from operating a gambling website in India, but it is not very clear.
Why Is Online Gambling Illegal
Another act that may be related to online betting and gaming is the Information Technology Act of 2000. This act mainly talks about online activities, but makes no special mention of online gambling or declaring online gambling illegal. However, the act does give the Indian government the power to block foreign websites.
In all, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the answer to the question — is online gambling legal in India? — could be both yes and no.
However, online gambling in India has started to take baby steps when it comes to the legal scenario. At the state level, rules are being framed regarding online gambling. So far, only Sikkim and Nagaland have come up with laws favoring online gambling. Maharashtra, on the other hand, does not allow online gambling.
Going forward, we expect to see more clarity on laws governing online gambling, including online casino India.
How it affects users?
Talking of how it affects gambling website users, again, there is no clear answer. There are many major gambling sites that welcome Indian users. However, since these sites are operated from overseas, they do not come under Indian jurisdiction. But, this does not mean that using these sites from within India is legal.
Except for Maharashtra, there are no clear laws barring online gambling. Also, we have not heard of any cases where any Indian has been charged for gambling online. So, we don’t think you should worry too much, but you need to ensure that the gambling site you use is reputable and accepts Indian users.
Is Gambling Illegal In India
A word of caution: making a non-rupee deposit to a gambling site could come under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999, and hence, should be avoided.
