Is Online Gambling Legal In Pakistan
In Pakistan, gambling, including internet betting is illegal under the authority of The Prevention of Gambling Act and offenders face fines and/or jail time. The one exception is horse racing on which residents may place tote bets at any of Pakistan’s 4 race tracks. Online Betting in Pakistan With millions of Pakistanis enjoying online betting, the demand for top quality bookmakers has risen greatly. At OnlineBetting.com.pk we bring you all the best online betting action in Pakistan and make sure that you enjoy world class wagering facilities at your fingertips. Learn about why gambling in Pakistan is on the rise and the laws. You’ll also find out about the top 3 online casinos and the best aspects of why you should play there. India: Gambling Laws and Regulations 2021. ICLG - Gambling Laws and Regulations - India covers common issues in gambling laws and regulations – including relevant authorities and legislation, application for a licence, licence restrictions, digital media, enforcement and liability – in 37 jurisdictions.
Gambling in India has become a very large enterprise, and not everything is actually legal to gamble on. It is extremely important for you to know about both sides of the coin, that way you can have fun without worrying about anything. There are even specific court rulings in throughout the different provinces in India that determine what other forms of satta are legal.
Definitely Legal Gambling
When traveling through India, you will always run into one form of gambling that is certainly legal. This particular form is by the way of lotteries. This is a very ironic practice on behalf of the country, seeing as how they have made illegal any forms of gambling or betting where the game is based on chance or no skill. Lottery has no skill involved and it is entirely dependent on a chance outcome – unlike sports gambling or other were a degree of analysis is needed. The many different lotteries are sponsored and promoted through India.
Another legal form of gambling is horse race betting. However, there is a catch. You can only bet on a horse race if you go to the province that has the racetrack. This means that you are only allowed to satta on horses where there is a racecourse. Online betting is completely illegal (per se, it is a gray area really; but we are not lawyers and this is just an opinion from our research), but in this case, you are legally allowed to bet on live horse races at authorized tracks in India and only that.
Is Online Gambling Legal In Pakistan Government
A Gray Area of Gambling
Land based casinos are in a gray area when it comes to legality. There are only two states in India that have and allow casinos to operate; they are Goa and Sikkim. This would make some of the casino games legal, but only when played in those states and those casinos. Everywhere else India is very restricted when it comes to betting and gambling, and that would include sports betting.
There are certain casino card games that are quite popular through the Indian provinces that also fall under this category. For example, we have rummy, poker, or satti pe satti that are highly played, but no one truly knows whether they are legal or not. This is all thanks to the obscure laws that do not define these games as games of skill or chance. Seeing as how poker is not specifically said to be a game of chance, it is not illegal; however, as it is not specifically said to be a game of skill, it is not legal either. This is what leaves many confused.
Illegal but Still Popular
As I mentioned before, sports wagering is illegal in India, but if you take a look at the total amount of revenue that is generated by this, at least half is thanks to illegal gambling. When we start talking about anything online, whether it is online casinos or bookmakers, it has been enforced very strictly in India. There have been two laws that were passed to limit and make online gambling illegal; the Information Technology Act of 2000 and the Federal Information Technology Act of 2011. Each of these laws states that it is illegal to transmit or publish “information that can corrupt people”, which includes gambling. With the law being passed in 2011, it is now up to the Internet Service Providers to stop and block the offshore gambling sites.
Banking Methods Restricted
The main way that India has tried to stop online sports gambling is by restricting the banking methods that you can use. For instance, the Bank of India has blocked the use of the VISA or MasterCard credit cards from being used to deposit money into online bookmakers. However, do not fret, there are many other options that sports bettors like you use to deposit and wager on cricket or football online. They use ewallets, which are online banking services that act as a middle man between you and the bookmaker. We do not condone illegal behavior, but it is already rampant in India and it would be more beneficial to legalize it, rather than restrict it (as a personal opinion).
Reasons to Legalize Gambling in India
There have been many arguments towards legalizing gambling in India, especially when it comes to sports betting.
• Funds attained illegally through illegal sports and other forms of gambling have been tied to the funding and preservation of terrorist acts. In other words, the money that is made due to it being illegal is used to fund terrorism, as well as drugs.
• Legalizing sports betting will reduce the amount of illegal wagers, as well as increase the amount of potential regulation on the industry. If they legalize it, they can actually keep a closer eye on the different activities.
• It will increase the countries revenue. We can even use Sikkim as an example. Neighboring country Nepal has legal casino gambling, and many chose to cross the border for their gambling needs. Sikkim saw this as a waste of potential income, and decided to create a casino in their border city. This has led to a much more prosperity than if they had not done anything.
• It will lower the amount of policing that has to be done to enforce the current laws. This will give their citizens more freedom, as well as helping. When people are free to gamble, they are visible to the government, making it much easier to tackle social problems like addictive gambling.
Is Online Gambling Legal In Pakistan Newspapers
Online gambling laws in India are vague and open to
interpretation. Ask 50 different people about the legality of
betting in India and you’ll get 50 different answers. On this
page, we’ll attempt to give you a thorough but concise overview
of the current legal situation.
Gambling is regulated in India at the national and state
levels. On the national stage, gambling is mostly addressed by
two or three acts depending on who you ask:
- The Public Gambling Act of 1867
- Prize Competition Act, 1955
- The Information Technology Act of 2000 (maybe)
Online gambling isn’t specifically mentioned in any of these
acts so it resides in a grey area of the law. Some could argue
that the Public Gambling act of 1867 applies to online gambling
since it restricts all forms of “gambling.” Additionally,
there’s the problem that “gambling” itself is never defined by
the act.
The states also have the authority to regulate gambling to a
degree. Two states, Goa and Sikkim, have authorized a limited
number of brick-and-mortar casinos. The other states outlaw most
forms of gambling, betting, and poker. The one nationwide
exception is horse racing betting, which the Supreme Court ruled
was a game of skill in 1996.
Although most forms of real-world gambling are banned in
India, there are no legal means for prosecuting those who choose
to place their bets online. For that reason, India is a
fast-growing market for online gambling. With 1.2 billion
inhabitants and a growing middle class, India shows great
potential for e-gaming operators.
Offshore betting sites such as Bet365 have already entered
the market and cater to Indians. At Bet365, you may deposit with
Indian rupees and are welcomed to register and play all games
from India. Bet365 resides outside of India and is therefore
safe from the laws that ban the operation of gambling websites.
And since there are no laws that prohibit individual people from
placing bets online, Bet365 is able to take advantage of the
legal loophole.
The Public Gambling Act of 1867
The Public Gambling Act of 1867 made it illegal to run a
gaming house or be found in one. The act describes a gaming
house as “any house, walled enclosure, room or place, playing or
gaming with cards, dice, counters, money or other instruments of
gaming or is found there present for the purpose of gaming,
whether playing for any money, wager, stake or otherwise.” The
penalty for being caught in one is up to a month in jail.
This act predates the internet by well over a hundred years
so there’s a good deal of debate as to whether or not it applies
to online gambling. Does a website count as a “place” where
instruments of gaming are present? It depends on who you ask.
Further complicating matters, an amendment in 1976 added the
following text:
or place” wherever they occur, the words “house, room, tent,
enclosure, space, vehicle, vessel or place” shall be
substituted.”
The question remains: does the internet count as a “vehicle,
vessel or place?” The 1976 amendment also predates the internet,
but it could be interpreted as applying to the internet.
Additionally, there’s no ironclad definition of the word
“gambling.” The closest the Public Gambling Act of 1867 comes to
defining “gambling” is in section 12:
provisions of this Act contained shall be held to apply to any
game of mere skill wherever played.”
Prize Competition Act, 1955
The Prize Competition Act, 1955 seems to address a very
specific type of gambling, but it has been interpreted as
applying to all forms of gaming in which a prize is awarded. In
short, the act bans prize competitions in which the prizes
exceed a thousand rupees a month.
The act defines “prize competition” with the following text:
cross- word prize competition, a missing- word prize
competition, a picture prize competition or by any other name)
in which prizes are offered for the solution of any puzzle based
upon the building up, arrangement, combination, or permutation
of letters, words, or figures.”
The Information Technology Act of 2000
The Information Technology Act of 2000 is even more difficult
than the other two acts described above, because it’s so broad
in scope. This act still causes a great deal of controversy
today due to its vague wording and harsh punishments for a wide
range of infractions.
Like the other two acts on this page, the Information
Technology Act doesn’t specifically mention online gambling.
However, the following text could be interpreted to apply to
internet wagering. No internet betting cases have yet to be
tried under the act, so we don’t yet know if it applies to
gambling or not. We will have to wait and see.
The most controversial portion of the act is also the part
that may or may not apply to online gambling:
any information through an electronic message that is grossly
offensive or has menacing character and might cause insult,
injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, etc.
or sending such mail intended to deceive or to mislead the
addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages”
A violation of this portion of the act may result in
imprisonment for up to three years and an unspecified crime. The
Bombay High Court has already ruled that this act can be applied
to content published on websites.
Could online gambling be considered a message that may cause
insult, injury, or ill will? Does it fall under the comically vague
“etc.”? We don’t know. So far, we have yet to read about anyone
being charged with placing bets under the law.
What This All Means
In summary, gambling laws in India are confusing, poorly
written, and haphazardly enforced. The reality of it all for
online gambling specifically is that people across India bet
online every day. There are no laws that criminalize the mere
act of placing a few bets online. If you live in India, you have
access to a wide range of internet casinos, sportsbooks, and
poker rooms.
There’s no reason to limit yourself from enjoying the
excitement and convenience provided by gaming websites. In most
locations, betting over the internet is safer than doing it in
person. Millions of Indians already gamble online and have had
no legal issues to date.
The one bit of caution we would recommend is to look into the
laws in your area. Indian gaming law makes little sense and is
enforced at random. You should always check with the local
authorities before you place real money bets anywhere.