Online Casinos India

Oh you’re wondering if online gambling in India is legal? To learn all the details and nuances on situation with gambling online India, check our expert review below.

Currently, almost all punting is forbidden all over the territory of India, but not completely. Horse racing and sports betting is fully allowed everywhere. Moreover, despite the fact that brick and mortar casinos in India are banned everywhere in the country, in Goa where thousands of tourist come every year, around 20 land based facilities operate freely and legally.  

So, punting is like banned, but not banned if you want to gamble very much. This situation is due to the fact that most of the Indian gambling legislation was created back in 1870s, and since then, the laws have almost never been re-addressed again, despite the fact that the market has evolved beyond recognition. 

Is It Legal To Play At Online Casino In India? 

Now, if current laws can still more or less fit brick and mortar facilities (that is, keep them banned most of the time), these laws cannot create a clear and regulated market of digital punting, obviously, because back in 1870s, digital punting did not exist.  

As a result, today, digital punting is banned in the same way as offline punting (lol), but this is only for operating businesses. That is, one should not operate an Indian casino online from India, and offer its services to locals. There are cases when operators and players were charged for these activities. In some regions, the punishment can include 10 days in prison, or some fines, but this is more true for big organized punting events rather than making bets on the web.  

And generally nothing prevents local gamblers to reach out to digital parlours operated from abroad, and gamble at those safely. It is almost impossible to track such activity for the government, the payments can be processed bypassing banks, and the government is rarely interested in individuals entertaining in the web, to actually persecute them much.  

What Are The Best Online Casinos In India?

There are different types of parlours that are popular among Indian gamblers. Most often, locals search for No deposit, online casino real money India, Live dealer, and also new digital parlours. However, keep in mind that the bestest digital parlour is a safe and reliable one, in the first place. 

Requirements For Reliable Casino In India

We understand it may seem complicated to analyze and research every Indian online casino you meet on your way. Obviously, such research will take lots of time in every single case. This is the reason why we create those lists of casinos in India of the best parlours available in the country, or foreign parlours that accept players from India. We do the work for you and want to save your time.  

On the other hand, you can always stumble across a newly opened digital parlour that offers some attractive bonuses and stuff, and start wondering whether this platform is actually safe for playing? In this case, you can quickly check the platform and see if it meets all the most important criteria that make an casino online India reliable.  

 License

Every digital parlour, no matter how small and local it is, has to have an active legal license. If it is run by a local company, it may have only local license by the government. If it accepts players from more than one country, it should have an internationally accepted licence by one of the big well-known agencies, like Malta, United Kingdom Gambling Commission, Gibraltar, Alderney, etc.  

Another important aspect to keep in mind that the license should be clearly indicated on the homepage of the site, or at least somewhere on the internal pages, like in Terms and Conditions. If the owner and the license are impossible to find, you can contact the Customer support and ask them, but overall, it is better to avoid a site that has anything to hide from its potential customer.  

Banking Options  

Banking options are important not only from the point of view of the player that wants to have an option for depositing and withdrawing. Banking options offered by the parlour can play as an indicator of the site’s safety and reliability.  

Firstly, local banking options mean that the gambler will actually be able to send and receive money. Secondly, the more banking options, both local and international, the parlour offers, the better, because it means many payment processing operators are ready to collaborate with this site (which rarely happens if the site is scammy or crappy). And thirdly, the gaming platform should collaborate with at least one-two international operators. Visa and Mastercard are a must, plus companies like PayPal, Neteller, etc., are good. Such partnership means the site is more or less reputable, and you can give it a try and trust it with your money.  

Deposit and Withdrawal Methods

Watch out for methods allowed for deposit, and methods allowed for withdrawals, separately. The point is, most parlours allow different methods for those operations. It is totally normal to deposit with a Visa or Mastercard plastic, and to withdraw via Skrill or Neteller. However, some sites are particularly smart-ass, and they leave the fastest methods only for depositing, while for withdrawal, the players are limited to the slowest methods ever. For example, depositing instantly with a plastic card, but to withdraw via bank transfer is not a healthy situation.  

 Payout Time  

There are two aspects that influence on the payout time: time taken by the site, and time taken by the payment processing operator. Those two times added together define the payout time for the gambler.  

When the gambler makes a withdrawal request, the gaming platform first checks this player’s request, his/her punting activity patterns, and documentation overall, to see if the request is legit. In the best scenario, this takes from 24 to 72 hours, sometimes more. If the request is legit and it is confirmed, the platform passes it further to the payment processing operator that the player has chosen as prefered, and the rest of the payout time depends on the operator.  

If you choose, say, Skrill, the parlour checks the request for 72 hours and then Skrill processes the payment instantly, so the total payout time is 72 hours.  

If you choose bank wire, the parlour checks the request for 72 hours and then you wait 5-7 business days more for the bank to process the payment, so the total payout time is 8-10 days.  

Variety Of Currencies  

If the platform is local and operates in only one country, having only one local currency plus, say, USD is normal. However, international parlours should support at least USD and EUR, plus local currency for every country where they operate. the more currencies are supported the better. Plus, you can additionally double-check if the site accepts digital currencies.  

 Software  

Since digital casinos do not make games on their own, they purchase games as software products from games developing companies. Therefore, software developing companies represented at the site also serve as indicator of reliability of the parlour. Overall, the more providers there are, the better. Most providers take care of their reputation and do not allow crappy sites to purchase their products, even if the site has money to do so.  

On the other hand, there are leaders in the niche, and searching for well-known brands among providers is also a smart step. Games by famous providers mean you will get nice user experience.  

 Variety Of Games  

More software providers usually automatically mean more games in the lobby. However, you should also pay attention whether all types of games are represented. At a healthy man’s digital parlour, there are slots, jackpots, video poker, table games, specialty games, and Live dealer games if we are lucky. At a smoking man’s digital parlour, there are slots, and a handful of games in other categories.  

There are slots only digital casinos, so this rule is not applicable to them.  

Pay attention if the games are actually recent, and how old the site is, itself. Having some old games in the library is okay for an old site. Yet, having only 150 old games and no recent ones is not okay for an old site that operates on the market for years and does not care to purchase some new items for the sake of its customers’ fun.  

 Play For Fun VS For Real Money  

Most digital casinos out there are for real money players, but offering a “play for fun” mode as a social parlour is a benefit. Today, only very greedy casinos do not allow Demo mode for unregistered players, and the play for fun mode is totally a must for already registered players. So, when exploring a new parlour, the user has to pay attention whether there is a play for fun option that enables to check out the games before betting with real funds. If not, beware of those greedy parlours. There are better ones out there.  

Demo mode enables the user to see what they get if they actually deposit money to the site. It is possible to assess the mechanics, graphics, and rules of the game when playing for fun. Otherwise, the parlour offers to send them money and only then they will show the product. But this stuff does not work that way.  

Bonuses  

Bonuses is the most attractive part of every web gaming platform. The overwhelming majority of player hardly check anything about a parlour but bonuses and promotions. Casinos overextend themselves inventing newer, bigger, more juicy bonuses to lure in new customers and keep the already registered ones playing.  

However, there are nuances that every bettor has to consider, and conditions that can turn a bonus into headache. Therefore, before registering an account with a site only to grab a lucrative bonus, find out more about the deal, and what rules apply to it.  

Welcome

Welcome bonus, or welcome package, is one of the most attractive offers the player receives. It usually comprises a 100% (or more) match to the first deposit by the new player; in other words, you receive as much cash as you deposit, in form of a bonus. Sometimes, some free spins are given as part of the welcome package.  

However, there are rules that apply. Firstly, the sum you can deposit to take the bonus is limited, because only this amount of money the parlour is ready to give you within the promotion. Next, you are never allowed to withdraw the body of the bonus itself, because it would mean that the site gives people money out for free, which never happens. You are allowed to withdraw only money you win by betting the bonus money in parlour games.  

But even after that, you cannot withdraw this money you win, so simply. First, you have to meet the wagering requirements; you will not be eligible for withdrawal until you wager the amount of the bonus you have received, for a certain number of times. Usually, the wagering requirements vary from x30 to x50 times the amount of the bonus.  

These are the things to keep in mind before claiming the Welcome bonus. Check the rules that apply first, and then decide whether you want to take the gift.  

 No Deposit  

This type of promotion is the most desired, and the most risky at the same time. Firstly, casino India online is a business, and no business will give people money out for free. This means that, more often that not, a no deposit bonus is non-cashable - that is, you cannot cash out neither the body of the bonus (this is only logical), nor the money you win by betting this no deposit gift.  

Secondly, only very rich and reliable casinos can afford cashable no deposit promotions, and this is the reason why it is so hard to find this promotion at digital casinos out there. But if you manage to find a cashable one, remember that wagering requirements still apply. Moreover, in the majority of cases, you will only be allowed to withdraw a fixed sum of money, regardless of how much you win, and the rest will disappear from your account after the first withdrawal.  

All those unpleasant things happen with no deposit bonuses because this type of promotion is created only to attract the visitor and allow them to get acquainted with the parlour. So keep this in mind when searching frantically for a no deposit bonus.  

Free Spins

Free Spin is a nice gift many parlours give out both as a Welcome package, and as a separate promotion to loyal players. Free Spins are applicable to either all slots games in the lobby, or particular ones, but almost never to any jackpots slots. Sometimes, you are allowed to use Free Spins for Roulette. Free Spins bring small wins, but the wagering requirements are also lower, as well. So this kind of promotion is really worthy of your time.  

Mobile & App  

All modern digital parlours  that want their piece of cake on the market have to be mobile compatible. Only very old platforms that make millions already may ignore this segment for some time, but more and more people prefer to access casinos via mobile devices. The best casinos make their own official mobile applications for Android and iOS, to provide the best user experience. Being or not being mobile compatible is also an indication of quality for casinos.  

Security  

Checking for security is a must, because every real money player sends not only money to the platform. They also provide their real personal information, sensitive data, banking data, and certain documentation for identity check. If the site is unreliable, it may either suffer from security breach, and the data will be stolen by hackers, or the shady site can actually sell customers’ data to third parties, for example, to send you spammy ads. So, as you can see, security is crucial.  

Security is provided by several factors. The first is license, reputation, and collaborations of the parlour. The second factor is SSL encryption for all incoming and outcoming data. The third factor is not obligatory, but much desired, and this is third party certifications and seals of trust. All those ingredients together show whether the platform can be trusted.  

 Scams  

Another good idea is to research whether the parlour, or its owner company and its sister casinos, had any issues in the past, like unresolved customer complaints, unpaid jackpots, etc. If the reputation of the site is not spotless, is makes sense to avoid it if possible.  

Customer Support  

In a perfect world, customer support is available 24/7 via email, live chat, and via phone for every country where the venue operates. Also, the live chat should connect the user to a live operator, and not a stupid bot. If you want to find out what quality of service awaits you at this or that site, just contact the customer support as an unregistered user, and start asking them questions. You will quickly see the quality of service.  

 Terms And Conditions

Terms and Conditions is something that all gamblers should read, but in reality, few do so. Нowever, reading Terms and Conditions can bring forward some interesting disclosures about real offers of the platform to its players.  

Popular Indian Casino Review

If you manage to find a review, or several reviews, on casinos accepting Indian players, take time to explore them and see what experts say about this or that website. Zen also provides detailed and reliable casino reviews for the advantage of players. 

Gambling Regulations In India

Gambling regulations in India have stopped at the level of the market when Internet did not yet exist. So, the majority of laws are not applicable to web betting at all. 

Laws 

The main indian law that regulates punting and betting on the territory of the country is The Public Gambling Act of 1867 that forbids public punting houses, operating them, and visiting them as well. When web punting started to develop, the government obviously decided that it is easier just to apply the already existing Act to the needs of the new market and therefore, ban it automatically in default.  

There is The Information Technology Act of year 2000, which addresses cyber activities, but no word Gambling or Betting is included in it, therefore it cannot be applied for regulation of punting in the web.  

Regulatory Authorities 

All betting activities and entertainments are regulated by individual state governments, but the main policy is decided upon by the central government, the position of which is clear. 

Taxes 

According to the section of the law that covers lotteries, crossword puzzles, races card games and other games, the players have to pay 30% of their profit. This law is for sure applicable to bettors at land based facilities and legally allowed web betting. However, it is not clear whether people playing at foreign web parlours are expected to pay taxes (probably not).  

Indian Problem Gambling

As any other country where at least some punting is allowed, India has to deal with problem gambling as well. To find out more on this issue in India, check Gambling centers in India, and resources available on Gamblers Anonymous. 

Short Gambling History In India

Overall, it’s not clear why Indian government is so hard on punting , since punting as entertainment has been part of the Indian culture much of its history. Yet, in the 19th century, betting entertainments were stigmatized, and in 1870s, the Act was issued to ban all land based facilities.  

The Public Gambling Act of 1976 allowed to put slot machines, legally, at five-star hotels’ lobbies.  

In 1990s, the Amendment to this act allowed offshore casinos on cruise ships.  

Later, in 2002 and 2007, the states allowing land based punting forced laws to acquire legal governmental licenses to run legal brick and mortar casinos in India at big hotels. However, as for today, no clear regulations were provided for web legal gambling in India. 

Land Based Casinos

Only three states allow land based facilities - Goa, Daman, and Sikkim. There are 21 casinos in the country, nine poker rooms, and one bingo hall. The city of Panaji has the biggest number of land based facilities in the whole country.