How is Indian Gambling Legislation Changing?

India has historically had a complicated relationship with gambling. Although modern forms of gambling were first brought in by the British several hundred years ago, the Indian government has wavered in terms of where and in what forms it considers the practice acceptable.

These days, the situation is particularly complicated, with different states having different laws and there being varying attitudes towards online forms of betting. Things are evolving at a fast pace, and people and government bodies alike should be prepared to keep up with it.

How did it all start?

It is said that there were actually primitive versions of gambling in India as early as 7300 BC. Game boards have been described that archaeologists speculate were early versions of chess boards. There are also said to have been games played with dice during early periods.

In the 1700s, cricket was already becoming popular in the country, and people soon started betting on matches when it became widespread in different regions. With the arrival of the British, horse racing also became popular across India.

When the government noticed this trend, there was increasing concern about the spread and negative influence of gambling houses. Therefore, they passed the Gambling Act of 1867, which made these establishments illegal. However, this proved to be only a nominal gesture as betting was already extremely popular by this time. Indeed, it was the British who were themselves responsible for introducing these sports in the first place, and Indians took to them wholeheartedly. They had figured out how to bet on football pretty much once people started playing the game.

Post-independence India

When the country declared independence from the British in 1947, the Gambling Act remained in place. The national government decided to allow individual states to decide the legality of gambling practices for themselves, however. The majority of them chose to retain the ban, and not allow for sports betting legal in India. There are a few, however, that decided to lift it, including Maharashtra and Sikkim, which allow for the establishment of casinos. Overall, Goa is considered to be the most lenient part of the country when it comes to gambling.

Enter the Internet

The advent of online betting and gaming has changed everything for the population, not only in India but globally, as well. Legislators are finding it increasingly difficult to control people’s behavior. At this point, online betting is legal in Goa, Sikkim, and Daman, although the reality is that people use these sites all over the country.

What are officials to do in situations like this? In some places where sites exist that governments don’t like, they simply try to ban them. This often proves to be an unreliable tactic, though, because populations are becoming more and more skilled at setting up proxies all the time. Furthermore, with the increasing use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment and winning, people no longer have to worry about national boundaries or the incompatibility of currencies. They can simply give and receive digital currency on a blockchain and collect their earnings wherever they are.

What is the answer?

More and more people are starting to agree that the answer lies in responsible regulation. As India and other countries still see a high level of online fraud, theft, and other types of criminal activity, people on all sides would benefit from greater regulation by the authorities, rather than outright bans.

India would be wise to take a look at other countries and the measures they have taken with regard to online gambling. The UK and the European Union have enacted responsible legislation with regard to many different forms of online gambling. South America is also starting to see developments in this area. It is basically clear from looking at the countries that have regulated and those that haven’t that illegal activity only leads to crime and other associated problems.

A normal human tendency

Gambling is just like many other areas of life that bring about some degree of controversy from among the population. If cracked down on too hard, it will continue to proliferate in various underground ways, some of which will lead to societal problems. If left completely alone, there will similarly be problems because of a lack of sufficient attention by the authorities. The answer lies in the golden mean of responsible legislation.