India is a country that is experiencing unprecedented growth on a scale that we have never seen before. A booming population is full of enthusiasm for technology, industry, and innovation. Having recently overtaken continental rival China last year, it is currently ranking top with a population of nearing 1.45 billion.
And with such a growth in population, we have also seen a surge in demand and growth in a lot of different industries. One of which is sports and gambling. As we have mentioned already, India’s population is relatively towards the younger end of the scale, and so are enthusiastic and mass adopters of technology. And so it’s no surprise that the online betting landscape is experiencing pretty impressive growth.
A consistent growth
The online sports betting and real money gaming industry in India has been seeing steady and consistent year-on-year growth in recent years. It’s no secret that they are a country with a passion for one sport in particular, cricket, and so it’s no surprise that the top destination if you want to place a wager on a cricket match is to head over to 10CRIC – online betting in India. It’s this passion, but also a passion for online betting on other sports such as football and basketball, that has also been pushing big growth. They are also enthusiastic followers of other sports, such as tennis and baseball.
A surge in mobile gaming
Of course, with such a young population on average who are also apathetic towards technology, it’s no surprise that mobile gambling is also a reason why online betting has become so popular. The last rankings were two years ago, but India had a smartphone penetration of 46.5%. Which means just under half of the population, around 659 million people. Which does put them at the second highest in the world behind China, but you have to remember that India is following in the growth footsteps of China and is developing, so over the coming years we can expect this number to grow and grow.
Is sports betting legal in India?
So, what are the legalities surrounding online betting in the country? Well, again, it’s not a very consistent picture and varies from state to state, similar to the state of legal affairs in the United States when it comes to online gambling in general, which involves both casino and sportsbook betting. And each state does indeed have the power to create, remove, and change legislation on premises, both in person and online, within their jurisdiction. And as India is still a developing country when it comes to comparing itself against the likes of China and the United States, so too are its laws when it comes to gambling.
Online gambling is not prohibited anywhere in the country.
Fortunately for companies like 10CRIC, there are actually no federal laws as of 2024 that will stop any Indian citizens from betting on any sports or markets within sports, or even at online casinos. There are some states, however, that have stopped online gambling, but with a population that is so familiar with technology, a lot of this is circumnavigated through the use of software tools such as VPNs, which then allow them access to some of the top online sports betting websites and online casinos. And although the Public Gambling Act of 1867 is still technically in place, not a single instance has led to the prosecution of a single Indian person when they have been betting on sports online.
What’s the tax situation for companies?
One of the downsides of the online gambling economy in India is that the current tax situation for online gambling operators isn’t very commercially friendly, which is leading companies to move offshore. However, this is always subject because, as we have discovered already, India has the size, growth, and potential to pivot and change to where it needs to in order to ensure that the government doesn’t lose out on revenue from what is going to be a very lucrative and successful market. At the moment, when it comes to revenue for FY25, it looks like the government is expecting a revenue of $1.75 billion from online gambling, which for a country with such a large population is quite a small amount.
Things to keep an eye out for
With such a growing population when it comes to the online gambling sector, it’s not uncommon for scammers and cybercriminals to try and take advantage of innocent naivety when it comes to not taking the suitable steps to keep yourself and your details safe online. And so the country has had a higher level than usual number of identity theft and transaction fraud cases reported, and this is something that they are looking to directly tackle, and it is also on the responsibility of the operators to also do their part. This is why 10CRIC has advanced technology that prevents any money laundering or any fraudulent activity from happening while players are on the site.
In Summary
We’re hoping that you’ve now got a very clear and thorough insight into how online gambling works in India. How big is it, and what kind of sports are available on betting apps such as 10CRIC for you to bet on? There are also plenty of apps that offer online casinos with skill-based and real-money games that have also proven to be very popular with those who are fans of iGaming in India. All in all, we can expect the next few years to be very exciting for the online betting scene within the country, and we can expect the same consistent growth that we have seen year on year in the past few years, and hopefully for this to potentially increase depending upon a possible change in fiscal legislation when it comes to the tax situation.