Although gambling has been prohibited in India for as long as anyone can remember, it appears that there is now a growing sentiment towards legalization of online gambling at the highest levels of government. Even though online gambling is technically not illegal at present, it exists in a legal grey area. Many Indians are gambling online, but the government has no way of levying taxes from this activity due to the legal situation of online gambling, but that may soon change.
In recent months, measures have been taken in an attempt to fully liberalize gambling in India. This was sparked by a 150-page long report addressed to the government from the law commission of India (LCI). In this report, the LCI recommends the legalization of online gambling in a regulated manner.
In the report, the LCI points out that the government cannot practically prevent people from accessing online betting sites. They simply have no legal basis in the law to do this. Furthermore, the government would have to shut down foreign websites en masse like the Chinese government has done, but this would go against the neo liberal policies generally being enacted by the Modi administration.
In their report, the LCI also pointed out the immense potential for tax revenue that the federal government could benefit from, should it choose to regulate online gambling. In recent statements, the Indian government have said that they are looking into the reports from the LCI with maximum interest.As such, if the government decides to heed the advice from the LCI, we are looking at a nationwide liberalization of online gambling in India. This would give many Indian players who are already gambling in this legal loophole a lot of relief, and it would give the federal government a huge potential for revenue from taxable foreign betting sites. Money that the government could then use to improve other areas of Indian society such as healthcare and education.
