Gambling on Online Slots: A Popular Pastime in Germany
India
As India has a federal system of government, gambling regulations used to be completely in the hands of individual states. The result was that some states regulated all or some forms of gambling while others banned it completely.
Land-based casinos are allowed in Goa and Sikkim, which also regulates online gaming, sports betting, and horse racing; Nagaland permits online skill games; and the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana explicitly prohibit online casino gaming. In all others, it is unregulated (except those in which casino gaming is officially regulated). Lotteries are subject to state monopoly.
However, 2023 brought some significant changes to this system when the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) amended the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, introduced a new Finance Bill, and created a legal framework for "self-regulatory bodies." The self-regulatory bodies consisted of companies with domain expertise and representatives in the fields of education, mental health, and the protection of child rights.
This step is a big change in the Indian gambling market — it is the first federal-level regulation that aims to provide players with data and money security by defining two types of allowed gambling operations: online games for prizes, but not real money (permissible online games) and online games for real money that have to be verified by the self-regulatory body (permissible online real-money games).
Gambling operators ("Online Gaming Intermediaries") have to make sure their content is verified by the self-regulatory bodies before it's accessed by the local players.
However, some states used the opportunity to self-regulate gambling to ban it — the state of Maharashtra, for example, banned gambling by repealing the act determining licensing requirements.
Another obstacle online operators faced is an increased tax, a very unwelcome 28% of GGR, not to mention the suggestion from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to ban all gambling advertising.
Indian players love sports betting, with cricket being a particular favorite. Casino games such as Andar Bahar and Teen Patti are very popular, as are card games like poker and rummy.
