Online Betting

HORSE RACING AND ONLINE BETTING

Horse racing – Its legality

Though Indian society has always seen gambling as an immoral activity and vice that deserves to be prohibited, ever since the advent of the British in India who viewed horse racing as a sport and betting on horses has been an exception to the criminal sanctions imposed on gambling and wagering activities. Betting on horses with a licensed bookmaker and totaliser (tote) in a race-course are ordinarily exceptions to the comprehensive ban on gambling. The two states Sikkim and Union territory of Daman have amended their gaming Acts to allow casinos.

            Many states in India have their own state gaming Acts or have the option of adopting the Central Public Gambling Act of 1867. Several states have enacted their own gaming statutes but have in the process exempted betting on horse races. At present, such exempting provisions exist in at least eight state legislations. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal have created specific exceptions in their statues allowing betting on horse races in a specified format on the day of the horse-race with licensed bookmakers in the format and rules that may be prescribed.

            Supreme Court of India in its judgment pronounced on 12^th January 1996 in case Dr. K.R. Lakshmanan vs State Of Tamil Nadu And Anr. The bench ruled that.

            The new Encyclopaedia Britannica defines gambling as "The betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event the result of which may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result by reason of the better's miscalculations". According to Black's Law Dictionary (Sixth Edition) "gambling involves, not only chance, but a hope of gaining something beyond the amount played. Gambling consists of consideration, an element of chance and a reward"...... Gambling in a nut-shell is payment of a price for a chance to win a prize. Games may be of chance, or of skill or of skill and chance combined. A game of chance is determined entirely or in part by lot or mere luck. The throw of the dice, the turning of the wheel, the shuffling of the cards, are all modes of chance. In these games the result is wholly uncertain and doubtful. No human mind knows or can know what it will be until the dice is thrown, the wheel stops its revolution or the dealer has dealt with the cards. A game of skill, on the other hand - although the element of chance necessarily cannot be entirely eliminated

- is one in which success depends principally upon the superior knowledge, training, attention, experience and adroitness of the player. Golf, chess and even Rummy are considered to be games of skill. The courts have reasoned that there are few games, if any, which consist purely of chance or skill, and as such a game of chance is one in which the element of chance predominates over the element of skill, and a game of skill is one in which the element of skill predominates over the element of chance. It is the dominant element - "skill" or "chance" - which determines the character of the game.

Hence the Horse racing is totally legal in India

Online Betting on Horses – Is it legal

Goa has made two amendments to the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976 to legalize certain forms of gambling. The relevant section from that act is listed below:

26[13A. Authorised Game.– (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Government may authorised any game of electronic amusement/slot machines in Five Star Hotels 27{and such table games and gaming on board in vessels offshore as may be notified} subject to such conditions, including payment of such recurring and non-recurring fees, as may be prescribed.

26 Inserted by the Amendment Act 11 of 1992.
27 Inserted by the Amendment Act 13 of 1996.

As of October 2011 there are 7 land based casinos and several offshore casinos that operate legally in Goa.

Legal Gambling In Sikkim

Sikkim is a second Indian State that has legalised gambling.

1) The Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Tax Rules), 2002 gives the Sikkim Government the authority to grant licenses to individual and business interested in operating casinos.

2) The Sikkim Regulation of Gambling (Amendment) Act, 2005 gives the Sikkim Government the authority to authorise gambling on certain days and to make specific gambling houses legal at their own discretion by way of a license.

Sikkim also became the first Indian State to legalize internet gambling.

Sikkim Online Gaming Licenses

Sikkim has begun taking applications to license online gambling where the servers are located within the state. This includes casino gambling, lottery and sports betting. Many believe that once these licensed sports betting sites come online that players located in states where there are no gambling laws will be able to use them legally. This has caused popular online gambling sites such as William Hill and Betfair to eye India as the next major market to expand to. This however has a major challenge – foreign investments involving gambling are illegal under Indian law.

How Indian Online Gambling Laws Affect Indians

All in all, the legal situation relating to using online gambling sites in India is decidedly unclear. Many of the major gambling sites welcome Indian customers, but because these sites are operated overseas they aren’t necessarily governed by Indian law. As such this does not, by itself, mean that using a gambling site from within India is legal.

With that being said, with the exception of in Maharashtra, there are no laws which clearly state it is illegal for an Indian resident to gamble online. We are certainly not aware of any Indian being prosecuted or charged for the offence of using a gambling site.

While we aren’t able to definitively state that you can legally gamble online in India, we don’t believe you should worry too much. You just need to make sure you use a site that’s reputable and trustworthy, and that accepts Indian customers.

We do have one word of warning though. The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999 was introduced to India in 1999 to govern the exchange of foreign currencies. Technically, depositing to a gambling site in a currency other than rupees could be considered an exchange of foreign currencies, and thus be covered by the act.

This is why many Indians find it difficult to deposit at sites from their bank or by using a credit card. A popular solution to this problem is to use an e-wallet such as Neteller or Skrill.

Three Easy Steps To Bet Online

Step 1 - Register with RaceBets:

RaceBets is a trusted online betting site that offers competitive odds and covers horse racing in over 40 countries. Click on any of the banners below to register with RaceBets.

Step 2 - Register with Skrill or Neteller:

We will be using Skrill or Neteller to deposit money into our RaceBets account. Or alternatively, you can deposit with your Credit/Debit card or Bank wire.

Skrill: https://account.skrill.com/signup/page1?promo_id=16258371&rid=71973747&locale=en

Step 3 - Deposit and Bet:

Here is a comprehensive video on How to deposit money into your RaceBets account with Skrill.

And once you deposit money, select the which races you want to bet on. It should be pretty self-explanatory.

Bet responsibly!
  

 Disclaimer: Please note that we take great care to ensure that all the information provided here is completely accurate. However, we aren’t lawyers and nothing we state here should be considered legal advice. It’s only our own interpretations and opinions.