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saswataranjandash   18 July 2021

Betting

What is the status of sports betting in India when the bookie is based in a foreign country having a genuine license?
Is it legal to participate in betting like foreign based licensed companies like Betway.com.


Learning

 2 Replies

Sunakshi   18 July 2021

Online Sports betting in India is not ILLEGAL. 

Betting on sites like Betway, 22Bet, Casumo etc are legal sites where one can bet on games of skill.

The control on Betting and Gambling is with the State Government. It is upon the states to make specific rules for their respective state. The legality of Gambling laws in India are not clear due to the distinction between the 2 types of Gambling namely-

1. GAME OF SKILL- Betting on games of skill is legal. Anything that requires the use of skill is considered legal.

2. GAME OF CHANCE- Betting on games of chance and luck are illegal. 

The Apex Court in India has defined Skill Games as, "The competitions where success depends on substantial degree of skill are not gambling and despite there being an element of chance if a game is preponderantly a game of skill it would nevertheless be a game of mere skill."

According to this, Horse Racing, Dog Racing, Rummy are Game of skill and hence legal. But, three carder games which are purely based on luck or randomness of cards are illegal. 

1 Like

Kevin Moses Paul   24 July 2021

The answer to your concerned query is simply "Yes". Online betting are legal in India. There are no federal laws against online betting in India. Each state may decide if they want to impose laws on online betting. And so far, only a few states in India have made laws against online betting.

Horse racing and lotteries are legal in India. Horse racing involves some prior skills so it isn’t all about gambling. However, gambling; bettings; lotteries have been approved by many states based upon different legal provisions, a list of which has been laid down for your perusal -

Several Indian states have legalized lotteries. These are Goa, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Punjab, Nagaland, West Bengal, and Sikkim

Online gambling and land-based casinos are legalized in Goa, Sikkim, Nagaland, and Daman under the Public Gambling Act, 1976

Maharashtra has prohibited gambling and considers gambling as illegal under the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887

E-gaming (games of chance) has been legalized in Sikkim and Nagaland

Telangana and Arunachal Pradesh consider the game of skill as illegal as per the Telangana State Gaming Act, 1974

All India Gaming Federation, The Rummy Federation, and Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports have adopted a self-regulation code for all their advertisements.

Hope It Helps

Regards
Kevin M. Paul

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