A review of gambling bans in India

Gambling laws in India are divisive. Since its inception in 1867, the Public Gambling Act has raised a few questions. As the blanket gambling law in the country, many believe that the Act sets out clear and fair rules in terms of gambling in the country, but many parts of the Act are still ambiguous.

Many local state governments, especially in the south of India, have recently attempted to impose a ban on the gaming sector.

Back in 1957 a ruling was made in a Supreme Court case, stating that games of skill are considered a protected business activity. Thanks to this ruling, none of the recent attempts to outlaw online gambling have been successful.

Worldwide different countries have taken a varied approach to gambling. But the overall result suggests that regulation offers more benefits than a total gambling ban.

A brief summary of the attempts to ban gambling in India

The official Indian gambling law goes back more than 150 years ago.

In that time the act has been challenged quite a few times:

• 1957 – in a case tried in the supreme court and titled “The State of Bombay vs R. M. D. Chamarbaugwala”, games of skill were officially ruled as business activities under Article 19 (1)(g).
• 1968 – Andhra Pradesh went head-to-head with K Satyanarayana and Ors to decide on the fate of rummy. The result was that rummy should be considered a game of skill.
• 1996 – When KR Lakshmanan vs the state of Tamil Nadu played out the verdict added horse racing, football, chess, golf and baseball to the “game of skill” definition.
• 2017 – The high court of Punjab and Haryana considered the case of Varun Gumber vs Union Territory of Chandigarh and Ors, the outcome ruled online fantasy sports as an official “game of skill”.
• 2019 – The supreme court ruled online sports as a “game of skill” in the case of Ravinder Singh Chaudhary vs Union of India and Ors.

Covid19 brought changes in the world that no one could have predicted, and gambling laws were no exception. In 2021, several states in India tried to adapt their laws, with little success:

• Rajasthan – Avinash Merotra vs State of Rajasthan & Ors went to the supreme court. The result was that online fantasy games having any element of betting/gambling is were considered res integra (a case that has not been examined)
• Tamil Nadu - in Junglee Games India Private Limited and Others vs State of Tamil Nadu it was decided that the complete ban on online gaming was unconstitutional
• Kerala – the high court of the state held that an online version of a game of skill played for money cannot become a game of chance. The result was that rummy would be considered a game of skill whether played online or offline.
• Karnataka – the most recent ruling in terms of online gambling. In the case of the AIGF and Ors vs State of Karnataka it was ruled that a game of skill does not metamorphose into games of chance just because it is played online.

As a point of interest, even though choosing numbers for an offline or online lottery might appear to be a game of chance, it has been ruled as ok in India, with 13 states legally running their own local lotteries.

How the rest of the world have dealt with gambling regulations

India is by no means the strictest country when it comes to gambling. Countries like the United Arab Emirates, Brunei and Cambodia all have stricter laws than India.

Countries that have chosen to regulate gambling rather than creating an outright ban have seen a better outcome.

Sweden had a state monopoly until 2019 and has only recently transitioned to a regulated market. Since then, they have benefited from better responsible gambling programs, fairer licensing, and more honest advertising.

The United Kingdom has long been a case study of ideal gambling regulations. One of the roles of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) is a commitment to support responsible gambling, and honest advertising.

The US has almost 1,000 land-based casinos across the country worth an estimated $260 billion of economic impact. Previous bans have placed the North American market behind Europe on several technical aspects.

Regulation does seem to offer the most benefits in the long term, so it does seem to be the way forward for individual states and India as a whole.