The online gambling industry is always keeping up with today’s technology. That said, it continues to remain relevant. Even better is that it proceeds to grow as more technologies advance.
Grand View Research projects that the online gambling market will be worth over $100 billion by 202. That’s mainly because of various factors including technological aspects like the growth of mobile users and widespread legislation for the said activity.
So, what lies ahead for the online gambling industry in India? Let’s look at the latest industry trends and whether India will regulate online gambling nationwide.
Current State of Online Gambling in India
As of 2022, online gambling is only officially legal in the states of Goa, Daman, and Sikkim. These are where gambling has been regulated even before the rise of online gambling in recent years.
If that’s the case, why is online gambling so rampant in the country in other Indian states? Well, that’s because there’s no law yet in India that prohibits players from placing their bets on offshore online casinos.
What’s not allowed is for locally licensed Indian casinos to offer their services outside the states where online gambling is regulated. Offshore online casinos are only legally required to accept Indian Rupees as a payment method to be allowed to offer their services in the country.
The states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have imposed a ban on any form of online gambling. In 2020, the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also came up with the same blanket ban. However, it didn’t take long for the Supreme Court to chime in and strike the implemented amendments concerning online gaming.
According to the Madras High Court, what the two states did were unconstitutional and prohibits people from practicing any profession they want. The High Court said these two states can still come up with amendments surrounding the industry.
Both states still aim to do something about the rising gambling problems in their territories. Karnataka is looking to challenge the Supreme Court judgment while Tamil Nadu is working on a new amendment.
Sports and online casino games in India are all the rage as more people are starting to get comfortable gambling on their mobile devices. However, India only regulates gambling activities in three states.
Industry Trends
While there are many trends in the online gambling industry, what seems to be a strong trend in India is mobile gaming. As of November last year, it was reported that India has over 1.2 billion mobile users.
The majority of these people are going online with their mobile devices, so it makes sense that more online gamblers are also playing their favorite games on their smartphones.
Based on a report from ENV Media, around 87.16% of online gamblers are playing on their smartphones. Meanwhile, 12.38% are gambling on their desktops and 0.46% are doing so on their tablets.
The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana have the highest mobile gamblers, and the majority of them are using phone brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung, and Vivo. Other popular brands in the country are Oppo, Realme, and Apple.
While Goa already allows local online gambling, it falls on the last and 25th spot on the list with only 0.020% mobile gamblers.
Many online gamblers use Android devices to play their favorite games. As more affordable yet powerful smartphone devices are becoming more available to the Indian market, the mobile trend will likely continue in the coming years.
What Lies Ahead
We’ll still likely see the mobile market as the leading online gambler in India. What players and people in the casino industry should look after is whether the country will regulate the industry.
There are already gambling laws in India, but the industry is still regulated based on the law passed in 1867 when there was still no internet. The Information Technology act of 2000 that governs the country’s online activities also has no mention of online gambling.
That said, the online gambling industry is still in the gray area when it comes to the legal side of things. Locals are still free to place their bets offshore without any trouble.
Since there are states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that seem to be pushing for an online ban, it’s hard to say whether more states will also follow their steps.
For now, only time can tell whether India or more states will ban or regulate online gambling instead.
Content Produced by Indian Clicks, LLC
