Lotteries are popular all over the world. Most countries allow both state and private run lotteries. Lucky players have sometimes bought tickets and won unfathomable amounts of money. However, not all countries allow their residents to try out their luck in lotteries. For instance, lotteries are outlawed in most states of India. Before we look at why lotteries are banned in India, let’s first look at what they entail.
Related Reading: Is Online Betting Legal in India?
What is a lottery?
Lotteries are competitions where the outcomes solely depend on chance. Usually, a lottery revolves around selling tickets that have a number. These numbers are then drawn through a random selection. If you happen to hold a ticket with the number that is drawn randomly, you automatically win the stipulated prize.
The existing gambling laws in India
The gambling laws in Indian are somewhat vague. This leaves a lot of loopholes to be exploited by gambling companies. Nevertheless, the law on lotteries is a lot more clear.
In 2015, the Indian Supreme Court decided that individual states could make their laws in regards to legalizing or banning lotteries.
On a national level, the existing gambling laws in India differ. Individual Indian states are allowed to make their laws on the lottery. Out of the 29 Indian states, 13 of them allow lotteries. Nonetheless, lotteries are strictly forbidden in all the other states.
Legal Lotteries
There are several legal lotteries in India. The first one, which also happens to be the oldest government-run lottery is the Kerala State Lotteries. This lottery may have started in 1967 but it’s still going strong. It offers a weekly lottery as well as Bumper Lotteries, which are held 6 times annually.
The Playwin Lottery is also another legal state-run lottery. It is run by the Sikkim government. But it extends to other states as well. You can only participate in this lottery if you are 18years and above, and if you come from the following states;
- Goa
- Sikkim
- Maharashtra
- West Bengal
- Arunachal Pradesh
Lotto India is a massive online lottery that’s not only available in India but also worldwide.
This lottery sometimes offers larger prizes than most state lotteries.
International Lotteries
Indian players can also participate in some internationally renowned lotteries safely. This is done through concierge services. International lotteries such as Mega Millions, Powerball, and Euro Millions have monumental jackpots.
Players need not travel to Europe or the US to buy tickets. Since the draws are held out of the country, Indian players can buy tickets online legally.
Online lotteries and their ban
As much as lotteries are banned in most Indian states, it is hard to control them. Most of the lotteries are still offered online and this goes undetected by Indian authorities.
Why private lotteries were banned in India
The turbulence in India in the 1960s
In the 1960s, India was just getting used to its Independence. As a young independent nation, India found itself at war with China in 1962. Another war with Pakistan ensued in 1965. The order in the country became distorted. As a result, the number of gangs and rebels was rising. This sent the stability of the country in turmoil. The chaos was negatively affecting the country’s economy.
By the 1967 election, the Indian authorities were desperate to restore the rule of law and order. The Indian congress deemed it fit to come up with strict regulations. And part of this included banning lotteries.
Matka gambling and Satta king
During the immensely chaotic era in India, the Matka lottery rose in popularity. Earnings from this lottery also grew tremendously.
Matka gambling, also popularly known as Satta King is a type of lottery that originally revolved around players betting on cotton. The bets were placed on the opening and closing of cotton rates sent from the New York Cotton Exchange to the Bombay Cotton Exchange.
In 1961, the New York Cotton Exchange decided to stop this popular practice. Bettors came up with new ideas to keep Matka gambling alive. Rattan Katri introduced the idea of betting on closing and opening rates of imaginary products.
The rates would be written down on a piece of paper, and put in a pot that was known as the Matka. This practice kept evolving from numbers to cards and so on.
However, the name ‘Matka King’ remained. A significant amount of money would be won by punters in this lottery. And the winners of these enormous prizes would be referred to as the Matka Kings. In 1967, the government banned the Matka King because it was a private lottery that didn’t generate revenue, and introduced state-run lotteries that could be easily taxed.
Indian state lotteries
Indian state lotteries were born after the ban of the Matka King. This would allow the government to generate revenues. The first state to jump at the new opportunity was Kerala. In 1967, they established a state lottery department.
When the other states witnessed the success of the Kerala Lottery, they followed suit by starting their lotteries. A year later, the Punjab Lottery was formed. Then came the famous Sikkim Lottery.
What the Supreme Court has to say
As we said earlier, the Supreme Court of India decided that individual states would have the freedom to either forbid or ban lotteries. Following this directive, numerous Indian states now run various lotteries. These include;
- Goa
- Nagaland
- Mizoram
- West Bengal Assam
- Madhya Pradesh
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Arunachal Pradesh
The legal status of lotteries in India
As of today, each Indian state can decide on whether to allow or prohibit lotteries. Some states see lotteries as more harmful than good. That is why the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu prohibits all forms of lottery. On the other hand, some states have warmed up to lotteries.
Is the ban still effective?
The ban on lotteries in India isn’t as effective as it should be. Operators have uncovered some tricks to bypass the ban. The tricks include single-digit lotteries with small prices. Besides that, a lot of illegal underground private lotteries are still ongoing. Those who run them are anonymous, and this makes it hard for the law enforcers to catch up with them.