G3-247 Report INDIA
01 The Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976 plus the Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Tax Rules) 2002 authorise gambling via casinos. The Sikkim Regulation of Gambling (Amendment)Act 2005 gives the Sikkim government the authority to authorise gambling on certain days and make certain gambling houses legal whilst the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act 2008 permits online gaming in Sikkim to include casino games. In August 2009 it was amended to make online sports betting in Sikkim legal.
Research for the paper showed that 83 per cent of respondents believed regulating sports betting in India was better than banning it whilst 74 per cent believed legalising sports betting would curb match fixing.
It is estimated that the online gaming market in India could grow to Rs46bn by 2016. There are basically now two options for India
1. Keep the status quo and according to the FICCI con- tinue to lose around Rs12,000 to Rs20,000 crore annually in tax revenue. Also enable match fixing to continue and illegally activities financing drugs and terrorism.
2. Legalise and regulate sports betting. India is looking toward the US in terms of its legalisation mainly because of the nature of democracy and division of powers between central government and state gov- ernments.
and Bhutan and West Bengal.
CASINOS AND ONLINE GAMING At the moment there are a handful of casinos in India.
Only two Indian states, Goa and Sikkim, plus the Union Territory of Daman and Diu, allow gambling.
The Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976 plus the Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Tax Rules) 2002 authorise gambling via casinos. The Sikkim Regulation of Gambling (Amendment)Act 2005 gives the Sikkim government the authority to authorise gambling on cer- tain days and make certain gambling houses legal whilst the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act 2008 permits online gaming in Sikkim to include casino games. In August 2009 it was amended to make online sports betting in Sikkim legal.
At the moment there are two casinos operational in Sikkim and a dozen or so in Goa. It is estimated that Rs1.35 trillion (around US$30bn) is spent annually on casino type gambling in India.
SIKKIM Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state located in the Himalayan Mountain bordering Nepal, China’s Tibet
6 2
It has around 610,000 inhabitants and is the least popu- lous state in India and the second smallest state after Goa in terms of total area.
It is however a popular tourist destination due to its culture, scenery and biodiversity. It also has the only open land border between India and China and is the only state with an ethnic Nepali majority.
Its economy today is dependent largely on agriculture and tourism and its GDP is around US$1.5bn.
In the last few years the government has made huge strides to promote tourism and the state revenue has increased 14 times since the mid 1990s. A large amount of investment both from domestic and international organisations has been put into the region bringing eco- nomic power.
Now although Sikkim plays second fiddle to Goa in terms of gambling locations, it was however the first Indian state to offer gambling and opened the state’s first casino in March 2009.
In this year the government of Sikkim issued the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act 2008. The act was noti- fied and is now operational in the state of Sikkim. This made games such as roulette, blackjack, poker, keno and other casino games legal for online play. Any operator offering such games must start by paying a 500 Rupee application fee. If this is approved a one year licence is issued on receipt of approximately $2,000, which is then renewable annually. Monthly taxes are one per cent of the GGR.
At the time the Online Gaming Act saw nine Letter of Intent (LOIs) issued by the government whilst only four of these nine procured provisional licences for setting up an operation. However none had the necessary require- ments for set up.
At the time it was thought cricket betting sites and online casinos would jump at the chance to run sites. But this never happened. The only gambling site operating from Sikkim at the moment is PlayWin Lotto.
Around the same time the Central government also issued the Information Technology Rules 2011 which looked at internet companies and how to prevent the
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