India is no exception to this. With the world’s largest population, India is a hotbed for betting activity, but their country’s gambling laws have not kept pace with the current times. Sports betting remains illegal in India, but that does not mean it doesn’t have a very valuable position in the country still. Let’s take a deeper look into India’s sports betting scene and where it is heading.

Current Status

A lot of India’s current gambling laws fall into a gray area, or the laws are vastly outdated for the times that we live in. India classifies gambling into two different distinctions: those of skill and those of chance. Games of skill are not illegal for betting in India because they believe it relies on the player’s or bettor’s skill or knowledge to win the game. Fair enough.

But games of chance are deemed illegal, but that is a very gray area, especially in sports where the winning or losing of a game or match are far from chance and require great skill from those playing the sport. Currently, the only sport allowed to legally be bet on inside of India is horse racing. There are no gambling houses or casinos legally allowed within the border of India.

Several outdated laws have hindered sports betting and gambling, in general, to take a stronger hold in India. Laws dating back to 1867 and 1955 have severely limited and prohibited the growth of betting and gambling in India.

But as of late, new articles to India’s Constitution have opened the doors to allow the states of India to introduce gambling laws as they see fit without the hindrance of their federal government. Thus far, that has not made much headway for betting and gambling, but two states have offered licenses for bookies and started taking some bets through intranet terminals, but nothing that is changing the overall status of sports betting and gambling on a large scale.

Futures

With its large population being 1/7th of the entire world’s population, India only makes sense to introduce and grow sports betting. The average age of India is only 29 years old, the perfect age demographic for popularity in betting. And with sports like cricket and soccer being huge attractions, it would draw many fans to place bets on these sporting events and others around the world.

Currently, Indians can place wagers through offshore platforms or those that are not based in India. Many betting platforms have even begun playing directly to the Indian population as an untapped demographic by accepting the Rupee as a form of currency to gamble with on their platforms. This has enticed over 150 million Indians to participate in gambling via the internet.

Legalizing Benefits

India is plain and simple, missing the bus when it comes to one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world. They are losing millions of dollars to non-Indian sportsbooks due to it being unregulated and their lack of making modern laws.

India is also losing valuable opportunities to grow not only their economy but also help their tax efforts by collecting more taxes via gambling and betting laws. In a country with such a large poverty problem, and help the economy and government can get in the tax department should surely be taken advantage of.

The door is open after the federal government allowed states to make laws about betting and gambling, but so far and in the near future, it appears that nothing is being done to push laws in the right direction. Until that happens, India will be missing out on big opportunities, and those that wish to bet on sports will continue to send their money outside of India.