Best Legal Sports Betting Sites India

Back in early 2016, India successfully petitioned for a review of a federal ban on sports betting and since then multiple Indian states have started legalising online betting. Usually, a legal betting site in India will accept Indian Rupees and offers live betting features as well as a free bet as part of a welcome bonus as part of the overall betting experience for bettors.

There is no definitive answer to the question: which is the best betting site? No online betting site or betting company is perfect, so you should always be careful when choosing.

What are the Best Options For Legal Betting for Indian Players?

What makes legal betting sites lawful and what makes a great sportsbook? Our experts have conducted extensive research and our findings about the best online betting sites will be presented in this article. A unique and entertaining sportsbook will always offer the following:

A huge range of options for betting legal with profitable odds – so the odds will never be against you. Live betting feature and options to put wagers on a particular sport has to be on of the most important requirements for all of the most popular betting sites.

Easy to use interface, including mobile options – It’s not just about the desktop sites either. You’ll need to be able to access all the information you need on your tablet or smartphone too.

A lot of deposit methods, super fast withdrawals and bonus perks – You don’t want to be waiting a week for your money when you cash in on your winning bets. Also, it’s important to enjoy some free bets.

Fast and effective customer support service – If something goes wrong, you’re going to need help, so it needs to be there when you need it. Live chat support is a must for every sportsbook. Most betting sites offer multiple channels but our list of approved sites is always a safe bet for reliable customer services.

A variety of sports and esports – we understand that you aren’t just looking for the best football betting site. Since sports betting is legal, horse race betting, cricket betting options are just as important for the casual Indian sports bettors as football betting options. So don’t worry – you can legally bet and enjoy an exciting betting experience on all the betting sites we list on our site.

Is Online Sports Betting Legal in India?

Yes, online betting and sports betting sites are legal in the country – however, only regulated online betting sites from foreign countries can be used. This doesn’t mean you have to use a foreign currency. Offshore companies consider the Indian market to be crucial. Therefore all of the sites we present here accept Indian Rupees.

The Indian Supreme Court’s ruling has also allowed land-based casinos to start offering online betting too. This made online betting legal in the whole of India. According to the Indian Government’s recent legislation, there are now many casinos operating legally in India.

As well as making it easier for other operators to get licences and open their doors, this will make it a lot more convenient for Indian punters to get involved with online gambling and bet on sports without having to travel.

The legalisation of sports betting in India has opened up a huge new industry for betting sites that offer live betting, option for betting exchange and boosted odds. Betting sites however are required to be offshore.

What are the Current Indian Sports Betting Laws?

As previously mentioned, betting sites are no longer illegal in India. It’s only when you use an unregulated betting site or try to bet online that the law will get involved. Therefore offshore betting sites are your best bet if you live in India. It used to be a lot easier for Indian punters to play on sports betting websites because they were operating illegally, which meant no licence was required from the government and anyone could start up a site if they wanted to.

But as it’s now fully legal, all of those sites have found themselves obliged to switch from ‘unregulated’ real money gaming operations over to regulated ones, which means the Indian Gaming Act stops them operating without a licence. 

What Are The Existing Laws on Gambling in India?

The Indian government has passed its own legislation to help govern the current legal status of gambling across India. A betting company and the best betting sites, including offshore companies, need to abide by these regulations at all times. There are two main laws that all Indian players need to keep in mind when they’re thinking about legal betting sites:

Sports Betting & Gaming Act – This act defines what gambling is and how it should be enforced throughout the country. The Indian gaming board has to issue licences for sites that want to offer online betting, while all other platforms are now illegal.

Gambling Regulation Act – This law looks after the interests of players and punters by making sure that every site they use has been approved, registered and regulated so they can be confident it’s a safe environment to gamble in. Punters also have their own rights protected through this legislation, too.

Don’t Forget: Indian States Have their Own Rules & Laws

The government has allowed each Indian state to determine how they want laws to be applied on betting sites operating or available within their own territory, which makes it even more important for people to check the guidelines that apply where they live before using betting sites.

There are two states that have specific laws about gambling that apply to legal betting sites at the moment, which are Goa and Sikkim. They both have their own regulatory bodies that control registrations for these kinds of gaming businesses operating within their state boundaries, so it’s always best to check with them.

Other states have yet to come up with their own laws about gambling. But most of them require all legal betting sites operating within their state borders to be licensed by the Central Government’s Gaming Board.

Online Betting Laws in India – A Brief History

The Indian government decided to overturn its ban on gambling back in 2012, after it recognised that the original theory banning all forms of gambling was having a negative effect on the nation’s economy. Gambling laws in India changed quite dramatically at the start of 2018, when President Ram Nath Kovind passed three new bills to help revamp the country’s online gambling industry.

This included one act that gave all states within the country power to make their own rules and regulations about how legal betting sites – including mobile sports betting sites– could operate, which obviously caused a huge amount of confusion for those businesses.

Many companies didn’t know whether they were allowed to continue existing or not, and some were even considering shutting down their operations as a result.

However, the President overruled this and introduced another bill that clarified things by stating that all websites operating within India should be regulated by the Central Government’s Gaming Board if they want to accept Indian bettors.

The Difference Between Chance & Skill Games

The Gambling Regulation Act was passed in India back in 2014 to ensure that all games being offered by Indian casinos and legal betting sites were completely legal.

This includes both skill-based games and chance-based titles, but it’s a well-known fact that traditional casino games such as roulette and blackjack count as pure “chance”. On the other hand, Indian law has always taken a much more lenient approach to online sports betting and other online games such as poker.

Casino websites offering traditional casino table games such as roulette and blackjack have to be licensed by the Central Government’s Gaming Board if they want to offer that kind of software in India. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter whether an operator wants to offer skill-based casino games, as there are no restrictions regarding skill-based titles at all. Further, the bookmakers we present all make use of the SSL encryption method.

Legal betting is required by Indian law that all offered sports titles, including horse racing, tennis, football and other sports betting options for popular sports, need to be approved by the Gaming Board before they’re launched on all popular betting platforms. On our site, you will always find the list of the best Indian betting sites.

What are Games of Chance?

Back in 2014, the Central Government passed a ruling known as the Gambling Regulation Act that gave the Indian State governments power over games of chance. This was because they recognised that banning legal betting sites would severely harm their own economy since there are hundreds of thousands of citizens living within India who enjoy gambling regularly.

The Gambling Regulation Act isn’t specifically aimed at any particular game of chance, but the idea is to ensure that all gambling websites within India are fully regulated by the State Government. The issue with this was that some states took matters way too far and introduced very harsh rules about what kinds of games were allowed, which forced many Indian casinos to shut down their operations.

Fortunately, the President of India saw the problems with this and introduced a bill to ensure that all forms of gambling were legal for citizens living in India. This included games of chance such as live casino tables and scratch cards, which allowed casinos to continue operating without any significant restrictions or limitations.

Popular Games of Skill Examples 

The second piece of legislation which affects gambling in India is the games of skill ruling, which was introduced back in 2017. This states that all forms of online gaming need to be authorised by the State Government if they want punters in India to enjoy playing them.

Cricket betting operators based in India were having problems getting their websites licensed by the authorities because they were allowing users to gamble on cricket matches that hadn’t yet begun, which makes it very easy for punters to cheat.

The Central Government was quick to recognise this loophole and added an amendment which stated that all games of skill needed prior approval from the Federal Government before they could be launched by any betting websites.

These included football, tennis, horse racing, and pretty much any game which would be considered to fall under the category of skill-based titles. The Gaming Board was created back in 2001 to protect players from being scammed by unregulated gambling sites that were operating entirely illegally.

This allowed gamblers to check whether a site was legitimate and prevented them from losing any money to hackers or scammers. The Gaming Board’s main objective is to ensure that all gambling sites within India are fully licensed, which means they need to be able to show their financial records and offer independently audited statements.

Will Sports Betting in India be Legalised and Regulated?

As of 2021, there is no indication that the Indian Government plans to introduce a specific bill which will allow punters in India to bet legally on cricket or other sporting events. The reason for this is because they believe it’s too easy for players from within India to get scammed by unregulated gambling websites.

The Supreme Court of India is yet to officially deem online sports betting legal. In fact, it hasn’t even been deemed online betting legal yet. There are very few betting sites that have tried to operate from within India.

It’s also possible for individual States to introduce their own gambling laws which focus on Indian citizens, but it’s highly unlikely that there would be any major changes to this. A popular betting site will almost always offer mobile betting via on mobile devices too. With a downloadable mobile app it is now also an option to bet legally while on the go.

FAQs

How do I Legally Deposit Money to a Betting Site?

There are several deposit options on Indian betting sites in India by using Credit Cards, Debit Cards and Net Banking. In almost all cases, free bets are also awarded as a deposit bonus. Also, please note that all of the sites we present on our site offer legal options for depositing money and you can even use your mobile device for the transactions.

Could I be in Legal Trouble for Using Betting Sites to Bet in India?

As there are hundreds of betting sites and gambling apps for mobile devices offering services to people in India, it would be impractical for them to launch an investigation into all of them. But always stay away from local betting shops as they can be unregulated and run illegally.

Instead, use the numerous legal betting sites that we present here as they are safe options for gambling. With our selection of the best betting sites, you will not only be safe but you can enjoy perks like great betting odds, a first deposit bonus like a free bet (or free bets), cricket betting options and more!

Summary

It is always the safe and legal way to use betting sites and mobile betting options that you can find here presented on our site, as they offer great odds, a welcome bonus, as well as a huge variety of deposit methods and withdrawal options, virtual sports and live betting options while accept Indian Rupees as well.

Last Updated on 15/12/2022 ago by Devak Mukherjee