Why is gambling banned? Gambling is banned in India because of an outdated act that was passed by the British in 1867. This Act, called the Public Gambling Act, was applied to the regions now known as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It is quite unbelievable to think that this same Act is still in force in India and prevents the government from collecting hundreds of crores of rupees in legal taxes.
Why is gambling banned?
The reason gambling is banned in India has a lot to do with moral posturing. Movies convey gambling as immoral, match-fixing and spot-fixing are two things that come to mind whenever anyone talks about betting, and even the recent IPL scandal around betting by the owner was made to be a lot more than it actually was.
We say all this is moral posturing because gambling is in the blood of the Indians. All the popular festivals around the country are celebrated with gambling, considered to be auspicious during that time. Our greatest epics like the Mahabharata have has gambling as central plots in their stories and there are many more examples like this.
Also, lotteries are now legal in 10 states in the country, horse racing and rummy are considered to be games of skill and so are legal to bet on, and now even fantasy apps (betting apps with worse odds of winning) are also considered legal.
It is time the government show some foresight and legalize gambling in India. Not only will it bring in massive sums of money in the form of taxes but it will also deal a crushing blow to the illegal elements that are running gambling rings in the country.
Online casinos like Betway, 10cric, and 22bet are already seeing a massive surge in Indian players. Might as well remove this cloak of double standards and embrace gambling completely! Why is gambling banned? Because of no good reason that we can think of!
