Gambling in India is illegal. This is thanks to a law that was first enacted in 1867 by the British. The Public Gambling Act has shockingly stood in place over so many years even as India has changed unrecognizably. Of course, online betting and online casinos did not exist at that point in time and so did not get a mention in the law. Technically, there is nothing that makes playing at a website like 10cric India or Betway India illegal. The Public Gambling Act is still the same after so many years and the punishments it had laid out remain the same. What is the punishment for gambling in India?
It is shockingly inadequate.
What is the punishment for gambling in India?
As per the law, if you are caught gambling you can be fined INR 100 or get a jail sentence for a maximum of one month. If you are found guilty of running a gambling organization then you can be fined up to INR 200 or get a jail sentence up to a maximum of 3 months.
While those jail sentences might be deterrents, the fine is just too little to actually matter to anyone.
It is also another reason why India needs to update this law and embrace legal betting. Already. states like Goa, Sikkim, and Diu have made gambling legal at licensed casinos in their territories. The result has been a massive boom in the tourism that they get as well as the tax collections that these states enjoy.
A similar sort of advantage can be gained by the government of India by just adopting modern practices that are now common across the world.
What is the punishment for gambling in India? Interestingly, not a single person has ever been fined or indicted for online betting sites. At this stage, we must state that we are not legal experts and that you should seek expert opinion for more clarity on the matter!
