New Lottery Rules in India: 5 Things You Need to Know

Indians love gambling. It has been a part of Indian culture. Indians love playing card games, such as Andar Bahar and Teen Patti. But apart from these card games, people in India engage in online lotteries. This is the reason the activity has become a major trend in India.

Online lottery has made it convenient for players to participate in it. All they need is a device and internet connection. But you have to look for the best lottery site to get your lottery ticket online.

However, Indian players have to follow a few rules when they participate in the lottery. So, let’s take a look at 5 things you need to know about lottery rules in India.

1. The legality of Online Lottery

Many people wonder if the online lottery is legal in India. Well, in general, the online lottery is illegal in India. The legal lotteries that are available in India are run by the Indian government.

But the laws surrounding it are pretty vague. All gambling activities in the country are regulated with the Public Gaming Act 1867. However, the law had been formed during a time when there was no internet. Hence, there is no mention of online lotteries.

So, you can say that an online lottery isn’t legal, as long as the site is based offshore or in places where lotteries are legal.

2. Lottery Banned in Some States

Apart from 13 states, selling lottery tickets is banned in all others. The states that allow you to buy lottery tickets are Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.

People in Mizoram keenly await the state lottery result. Similar is the case with the Nagaland lottery, Kerala lottery, and Sikkim lottery results.

There are some states that have completely banned lotteries, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The ban on lotteries started around the turn of the century when several social activists voiced their concern that people getting addicted to gambling might ruin many families.

3. The Effectiveness of the Ban

The ban on lotteries isn’t effective since online lotteries are not available online. Moreover, operators have also introduced many tricks, such as single-digit matches, which can help you win small prizes, daily. All big prizes are announced separately.

Also, there are many illegal lotteries that are being operated by anonymous players. They have a wider reach as they are running online.

4. Lucky Draw is Legal but Lottery Isn’t

According to the Lotteries Regulation Act, 1998 Section 2(b) states that the lucky draws that are conducted for promoting digital transactions don’t come under the lottery category. This is the reason it hasn’t been banned.  According to the ‘Act’ lottery is a scheme in whatever form and whatever name called prizes are distributed to people who are participating in the lottery.

The Supreme Court of India permits state governments to ban lottery in the country as it is a type of gambling and the poorer section of the society as they get addicted can lose all their money. But that is not the case with lucky draws as it is not included in the Lottery Regulation Act, 1998.

5. Online Lottery Site Should Accept Legal Payment Methods in India

By now you might already have a fair idea about the lottery laws in the country. Hence, it is time to move on to the next step and that is to take part in the online lottery safely and legally.

To start playing, you need to be careful that the site you have selected to play the lottery meets the following criteria.

• The online lottery website you are choosing has to be based outside India. As you already know, online lottery sites based outside India are taken to be legal. Hence, you should choose only those sites that are selling international lottery tickets. Don’t fall for scam sites promising to sell tickets to the Punjab or Kerala lottery.
• Due to its popularity, there are many sites where you can participate in an online lottery. Be that as it may, searching for a good gambling site might be a little tricky, in case you don’t know what you are searching for. But one of the main things you need to pay attention to when you are searching for an online lottery site is the payment methods. You should buy lottery tickets online from sites that offer reliable payment methods. Avoid using your bank details such as a PIN or CVV number on any site as this might put you at financial risk. Rather you should try to register in sites that accept payment methods, such as PhonePe, UPI, PayTM, Google Pay, Indian Net Banking, etc.

The Legality of Online International Lotteries in India

In India international lotteries are organized by offshore operators based outside of India that keep them away from the law of the land. You can participate in these draws through lottery sites that either sell the lottery ticket online or allow you to bet on it.

As these lotteries aren’t privately organized by the residents of India, they can be taken as legal. But as the Lotteries Regulation Act 1998 doesn’t specifically mention a ban on online lotteries, you can easily take part in it. Moreover, there has been no news yet about someone being punished because he decided to play the Indian lottery.

Bottom Line

All in all, it can be said that lottery laws differ in the country based on the type of lottery you are talking about. The physical lottery can only be played in 13 states. But you can legally and safely play any international lottery over the internet through an online lottery site based outside India. Even people from states where the lottery is illegal will be able to take part in online gambling.