Is Online Sports Betting Legal in India? An Analysis of Betting Laws

Online sports betting on sporting activities and games of chance have long been a pastime dearest for people of different generations, and India is one of them. If I have to I would say that India has this deeply captured in its DNA more than all the other parts of the globe.

Whether it’s betting on sporting events, political results, dice, or even weather patterns, you will find Indian gamblers who are willing to “invest” their money.

With the exponential advancement in technology and internet coverage, betting in India is now referred to as “online betting in India.”

The country boasts of over 500 million mobile users and several betting companies are harnessing this behavior by offering secure websites and mobile apps to their customers.

Notwithstanding, there’re doubting facts that millions of people who love watching and playing games in India face.

And that is the question we’ll be answering in this article: whether online betting is legal in India at the time when many countries have passed staunch laws prohibiting any sort of sports betting.

Online Betting Laws in India

If you’ve noticed, gambling laws differ from one region, state, country to another. So, why is betting allowed in some states, regions, or countries and illegalized in others?

The best answer to this question is that each jurisdiction is free to legislate betting laws depending on its discretion. To date, betting, also referred to as gambling is prohibited in some parts of India.

The Public Gambling Act of 1867 states that it’s unlawful to operate a gambling house (company) in India. Nevertheless, some Indian states are exempt from this law implying that there’s no single federal law that states betting as an illegal activity.

Moreover, it’s clearly described in the Indian law that “games of skill” could be allowed in some instances while “games of chance” are considered illegal. Each individual state can decide if to impose laws against betting within their jurisdiction.

So far, just a handful of states have passed laws against gambling. Apparently, foreign gambling firms are taking advantage of the loophole to “trade” with Indians.

On top of the list is the Indian Premier League (IPL) and various websites have liaised with foreign betting agencies to allow Indian sports fans to place bets.

“To use your real money to bet on IPL games, all you need is to click a link of a bookmaker you intend to use, sign up to create an account, go to your favorite sports – football, cricket, basketball, etc. – section of their site where you will a list of the game to bet on. From the list, you can select which match(es) you should place your bet on.” Says indiabet.com, one of the most popular betting advisory websites in India.

Also, the question of whether it’s allowed to bet using a foreign bookmaker isn’t clearly stated. Whilst bookmakers are prohibited, there’s no single federal Indian ruling that restricts Indian citizens from “trading” with offshore betting companies.

If offenses are committed, it’s difficult to arrest the offenders where the websites are hosted in foreign countries where it is allowed by the law. Where servers are located outside the Indian jurisdiction, it’s hard to enforce the law.

The same way to an Indian bettor who places bets on foreign betting firms and commits a gambling crime, it would be hard to hold them guilty for flaunting betting laws of the country which hosts the website.

Foreign betting agencies accept online betting accounts that bare Indian addresses. Some firms like bet365, one among the top betting firms in England, go on to say that they “accept bets from customers from all Indian states.” Also read some sports betting tips.

Legal Online Sports Betting Companies in India

It’s worth shopping around a bookmaker that meets your specific needs. There are some well-known betting sites that are secure and licensed that offer fair and competitive odds for a variety of sports to assist sports fans to have a run of their money.

Some of the top-class betting firms include:

1. Betway

It’s one of the top bookmakers in the region.

It is user-friendly, offers a wide variety of options on different sports, and it allows bettors to use INR as their trading currency.

In India, cricket is a religion. Apart from cricket, Indians are crazy followers of horse racing, poker, casino games, et al.

Betway ensures it accommodates all the favorite sports in the country. For instance, Betway covers all cricket tournaments like the T20 World Cup, IPL, ODI World Cup, and test matches.

Also, it covers all of the main horse racing activities in different parts of the globe giving punters the opportunity to place their bets on their most preferable tournaments.

Even for the poker and casino games lovers, they can find a wide selection of variants on this website.

2. 10CRIC

This site has a centric focus for Indian punters.

It’s an international bookmaker that focuses on cricket betting.

10CRIC is exclusive to Indian punters and offers all the possible conveniences they require.

They offer a betting selection that appeals to most Indian punters and also covers European and Asian sports.

On their websites, they cover IPL matches that keep players updates about various cricket tournaments to give themselves the best possible chances of triumphing in their bets.

Also, 10CRIC offers its members with daily promotions like the boosted odds that gives them a better value as players – increase their profitability.

3. Bet365

Perhaps the world’s most popular bookmaker, Bet365 is legally accepted in India except for people living in states where online betting is illegal like Sikkim and Nagaland.

This betting site boasts of an enormous sportsbook, a wide selection of betting options that are hard to beat, particularly when it comes to batting cricket matches, wonderful customer service, and numerous brilliant features.

Bet365 offers a variety of deposit and currency options.

Indian punkers are lucky because bet365 allows “traders” to fund their accounts in Indian Rupees.

Besides, it offers payment in various methods like Skrill, BankWire, Neteller, AstroPay Card, and debit and credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, et al.

4. 1xBet

Based in Cyprus, 1xBet is one of the leading bookmakers in the world right now.

Bettors don’t have to worry as they can simply use their computers or mobile phones to sign in to this foreign site and take bets for their favorite games.

They offer an incredibly wide selection of several sports and matches to place your bet on compared to any other betting platform.

It boasts of millions of customers across the world and they usually take in customers who are unable to access other betting platforms due to restrictions in their respective countries.

Currently, a great proportion of Indian players use 1xBet to place their bet.

This site is literally overflowing with matches and bonuses.

After entering this site, you’ll be offered with countless options – it is an amusement park for gamblers.

On 1xBet, there is a wide selection of e-sport games that ranges from the famous Angry Birds to League of Legends.

5. ComeOn

It’s a new and innovative betting site with top-notch features and casino games.

Recently, this platform has launched its operations in India and opened an exclusive platform only for Indian punters.

For the lovers of cricket, kabaddi, and other sports that are favorite among the Indian culture, they can place their bets.

Bettors can as well get involved in lovely live casino games that consist of roulette and different table games.

The platform offers plenty of payment methods like Skrill, Neteller, and Netbanking among others.

Also, punters can get great deals of promotions like free bets for cricket matches.

It’s user friendly making it easy for newbies to get started.

No withdrawal fee charged when transacting with ComeOn – you can transfer all your money loaded on your ComeOn account to your Skrill account without any hassle.

Sports Betting Legal Issues

This involves matters to do with licensing and the types of payment methods offered by the bookmakers.

It’s risky to use a betting site that does not display its gambling license.

Permits and licenses from governing agencies like the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission show that the bookmaker has been certified to handle personal information of its customers.

Any betting site that fails to display its license should be avoided without any negotiation.

Pertaining to the methods of payment, the majority of betting fans often use their credit and debit cards to load money on their betting accounts. Nevertheless, these forms of payment can be subject to fraud by cyber-criminals. That’s why bettors are recommended to use e-wallet platforms like Neteller and Skrill. Also read about single bet strategy.

Conclusion

If you’re still asking whether betting is allowed in India, hopefully, this article clears a couple of worries up for you. While online sports betting is prohibited in India, there’s no single ruling that actually makes it an illegal activity. That’s the truth. So for any betting enthusiast who has doubts about this matter, they can go ahead and enjoy betting without any worry about finding themselves in the rough side of the law.

Let it be sports, weather, political outcomes, or any other place where a chance is involved, you can see many people who love to bet for an outcome. Today, as technology improved the online betting in India has also changed to online betting India. Betting sites 24 is one of the best Indian betting sites.