A bet can be placed in minutes. Anyone with a credit card can set up an offshore currency account with a gambling site, leaving them absolve to place bets on sports like Wimbledon, cricket, horse racing and Formula One, or join a virtual casino to play slots, roulette, blackjack, poker etc. Companies like Flutter and Betmart accept bets on anything from who is likely to win the Nobel Prize to whether Madonna gets a divorce or not. Bets can range from a nickel to thousands and in accordance with whether you win or lose the total amount is automatically adjusted back. The final balance can then either be mailed to you or left for future bets.

The law relating to online gambling in India has to be understood within the country’s socio-cultural context. First, gambling, but not absolutely prohibited in India, will not receive express encouragement by policy makers. The Indian organized gambling industry is estimated to be worth around US$8 billion. While stringent laws have checked the proliferation of casinos and traditional gaming centres as in many other countries, barring hawaii of Goa, the lottery business remains the most post popular form of gambling.

Though gambling isn’t illegal, this can be a highly controlled and regulated activity. Modern India is a quasi-federal Constitutional democracy and the powers to legislate are distributed at the federal and also the state levels. Gambling features in List II of the Constitution of India, this implies that hawaii governments have the authority to enact laws so that you can regulate gambling in the respective states. Thus, there is absolutely no single law governing gambling in the entire country. Different states have different laws governing gambling in addition to the laws with an application across the country. Although some states have banned lotteries, other states allow state lotteries marketed and distributed in other lottery playing and promoting states through private entities.

Regulation of gambling

The courts have defined gambling as ‘the payment of a cost for to be able to win a prize’. The dominant part of skill or chance shall determine the nature of the game. A casino game could be deemed to be gambling if the element of chance or luck predominates in deciding its outcome. Consequently, Indian courts have held that betting on horse racing and some card games are not gambling. The right to attempt the business of gambling and lotteries is not considered as a fundamental right protected by the Constitution of India. It could however be pointed out that hawaii government run lotteries make significant contributions to the state exchequer of several state governments and the Union government, and hence there is a resistance to complete prohibition.

The following legislation is pertinent to gambling:

The Public Gaming Act, 1867

This Act provides punishment for public gambling and for keeping of a ‘common gaming house’. This Act also authorises the state governments to enact laws to modify public gambling within their respective jurisdictions. The penal legislations in respective states have already been amended in accordance with their policy on gambling. However, this legislation does not have any direct effect on online gambling unless a broad interpretation is given to the definition of common gaming house so as to include virtual forums as well.

The Indian Contract Act, 1872 (ICA)

The ICA is really a codified umbrella legislation that governs all commercial contracts in India. Under the ICA, a wagering contract is the one which cannot be enforced. The Act lays down; ‘Agreements by way of wager are void, no suit will be brought for recovering anything alleged to be won on any wager or entrusted to any person to abide by the consequence of any game or other uncertain event on which any wager is made’. Gambling, lottery and prize games have held to be wagering contracts and therefore void and unenforceable. While a wagering contract is not illegal, it can’t be enforced in a court of law. Thus, the courts won’t entertain any cause of action that arises out of a wagering contract.

Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998

This Act provides a framework for organizing lotteries in the united kingdom. Under this Act, hawaii governments have been authorized to market as well as prohibit lotteries within their territorial jurisdiction. This Act also provides for the manner where the lotteries should be conducted and prescribes punishment in case of breach of its provision. Lotteries not authorized by the state have already been made an offence beneath the Indian Penal Code. Several non-lottery playing states, like Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, have prohibited the sale of other state-government lotteries under this Act.

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 294A deals with keeping lottery office. Slot 4D says that whoever keeps any office or place for the intended purpose of drawing any lottery not being a State lottery or perhaps a lottery authorised by hawaii Government, will be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which might extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.

And whoever publishes any proposal to cover any sum, or even to deliver any goods, or even to do or forbear doing anything for the advantage of anybody, on any event or contingency relative or applicable to the drawing of any ticket, lot, number or figure in virtually any such lottery, shall be punished with fine which might extend to one thousand rupees.

Internet gambling

The law linked to gambling is also applicable to online gambling. All gambling contracts are believed to be wagering contracts and it is extremely hard to enforce such contracts under the ICA, detailed above.