Gambling in India is largely an unrestricted activity. However, there are a few laws that affect gambling in this country. The United Kingdom also allows online gambling in a fair, and trustworthy manner. New Zealand is silent about foreign online gambling sites, but regulates its domestic gambling industry. Please continue reading this guide.
Gambling laws in the UK, New Zealand and India
There are two sets of laws in India- Central and State laws. The most important Central law on gambling says it is illegal to own a gambling house in India. However, online gambling is allowed in most parts of the country, barring three states- Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Sikkim. There is another law regarding online transactions.
According to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, gamblers can't deposit money on their online casinos in other currencies, except INR. The casinos can however process their INR deposits into other currencies. The New Zealand government requires every domestic gambling parlour and website to register itself with the local government. Please carry on reading.
Status in the United Kingdom
Gambling is legal in the United Kingdom. The UK Gambling Commission regulates this activity, and ensures that all gambling is fair, and does not lead to crime and law and order problems. It also ensures that children and other vulnerable groups in the country aren't affected by online and offline gambling in the United Kingdom.
This means, you can play any online game in the U.K , as long as you don't use slush funds, and don't engage in illegal activity. Play as many games as you can on your device, such as slots, Bongo, etc. However, nu underage player can bet on UK.-based gambling platforms. Let's now talk about casino fairness.
Fairness of online casinos
The UK Gambling Commission treats the fairness of online casinos quite seriously. What does 'fairness' mean in this context? Simply this; all the games of an online casino must play impartially and without favouring someone. Thus, to ensure fairness, casinos install a random number generator on their platforms. This RNG is basically a computer.
An RNG runs all the non-live games of the casino. This computer throws out completely random numbers, and nobody can predict these results. That is why, most online casinos are fair and trustworthy. But who controls these RNGs? Well, this job is done by independent auditors, such as eCOGRA., AGCC, etc. Please continue reading.
Importance of licenced casinos
Indian players should always play on licenced online casinos. You can locate your casino's licence information in the bottom area of the homepage. There you will find your casino's licence number, date of issue, the address of the casino, etc. If you can't find all this data, please contact your casino operator. Never play on unlicensed gambling platforms.
While India allows gambling on online sites, you must know everything about your gambling platform. If you are gambling on a platform associated with crime and terror, you might land up in big trouble. The Information Technology Act prosecutes people associated with platforms spreading crime, hate, etc. Thus, do your own research, and stay away from unreviewed gambling sites.
Indian gambling laws
Let's examine a few Indian gambling laws. The State of Nagaland oulaws all those online games where chance outweighs skill. Thus, while you can play a skill-based game, you can't enjoy chance-based games. You can approach Nagaland's Finance Commissioner for getting a gambling license in this state. Casinos offering poker can apply for the Nagaland licence.
Sikkim is one of the more liberal Indian states on gambling. You can open a gambling parlour in that state. Sikkim has also allowed online sites within its territory. Goa also allows the setting up of land based casinos. The first land-based casino in Goa came up in 1999, and today there are more than 3 casinos in that state.