Many people have been wondering whether Lottery is legal in India, so we decided to do the research and lay it all down for you.
In 2015, the Supreme Court of India decided against Lottery as a fundamental right of the citizens, passing it onto individual states to legislate on this issue.
So, can you play Indian Lottery games? The simple answer is yes, there are many online sites for lottery games in India.
Legality of Indian Lottery
Although it is up to each state to decide on whether they will allow people to engage in Lottery games, from the 28 states in India, 13 allow betting on Lottery. These 13 include Goa, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
The reasons behind this ban come from a good place, as activists were concerned with addiction to Lottery across the Indian people. As with other gambling activities, the Lottery can be addictive too, even though it is not associated with casinos that much.
Has the Ban Worked?
The fact that a law has been in place, doesn’t actually mean that it is going to have the intended effect.
In the case of the Indian Lottery, it has resulted in many illegal organizations and groups of people running their own private lotteries; these results in tax evasion, as well as an increase in black market activities.
In addition, this has further resulted in the rise of the Online Lottery.
Government Lottery Games in India
The states that took the decision to maintain Lottery legal and set up their own government-regulated draws, seem to be effective. The most popular ones are listed below.
Kerala State Lottery
This is the state where the Lottery was introduced. Every day there is an individual Lottery taking place, with ticket prices starting at INR 30 and huge prize money involved too.
Punjab State Lottery
This state has aligned its Lottery draws with the big festivals they are hosting each year. Their bumper tickets are a bit more expensive than the previous example, as they run less often. Prizes start at INR 200, but the jackpot can reach crores. New lotteries are also planned to get launched in this state, which would take place more often.
Maharashtra State Lottery
Following Kerala, Maharashtra was the second one to launch a state Lottery in India. This way it has battled illegal gambling activities and boosted the livelihoods of the many employees that work for this purpose.
10 lotteries are offered in this state every week with some high prizes; tickets start from as low as INR 10.
If you are after higher rewards, October is the best month to purchase Lottery state tickets in Maharashtra.
What about Online Lottery?
As we mentioned, playing the Indian Lottery throughout the country is tricky. Though it might be the simplest thing on earth, depending on the state you are in you could have to resort to illegal means.
Nonetheless, playing Lottery games online, through the sites that are regulated and licensed from an official gambling body is legal. This is because the Indian Gambling Act of 1867 doesn’t have any laws for online betting, so online Lottery can be played by all Indians irrespective of the state you stay in.
Free Online Lottery in India
Playing the Lottery online is the best approach you could take, in order to try your luck in this part of the gaming world. It doesn’t matter in which state you are living at the minute, as you won’t even have to leave your apartment.
There are some amazing sites (that we will get into below), offering Lotteries from all over the world to players in India; some even allow players to try their chances for free. How to do that?
- Find a Lottery site that is regulated and licensed that is legally operating in India.
- Sign up on the site and see what promotions they have in place.
It is as simple as that. Some sites might require you to invite some friends, in order to get a free Lottery ticket, while others would only give you free tickets after you have played some real money Lottery first.
In both the above cases, you stand a chance to win millions at a cost lower than INR 100.
Only Play Lottery Online
Although the Indian Government has made it quite hard to access Lottery games and try your luck, we strongly advise you to avoid illegal means to place your bets.
All of the sites we mentioned above, as well as the State-run lotteries we outlined, are allowed – so join one of these if you fancy playing online Lottery.
Do you also believe that Online Lottery is the best thing that could have happened in the Lottery world?
