required for setting up their infrastructure. As of July 2011 it seemed none of the provisional license holders have received the full license required to commence the online gaming website, due to non-fulfillment of the required technical standards. I am awaiting more information from the Sikkim Lotteries office and should know more by G2E.
The Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Tax Rules), 2002 - gives discretion to the Government of Sikkim to grant licences to individuals/establishments for setting up casinos. The Sikkim Regulation of Gambling (Amendment) Act, 2005 also gives the government discretionary power to authorise gambling either on certain days or to certain gambling houses by grant of licence.
State legislations: Various state legislations like The Bengal Public Gambling Act, 1867; The Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887; The Delhi Public Gambling Act, 1955: The Madras Gambling Act etc. have been created. These Acts are more or less similar, as the object is to ban/restrict gambling. Technically if a state govt wants to pass a law to permit on shore casinos and off shore casinos the legislative assembly will only have to pass a law amending the gaming act presently applicable to that particular state. Goa had done the same thing in 1996 and 1998, other states can also follow the same example.
Online gambling legislation: There is no express provision in India either banning or allowing online gambling, however the Sikkim government has recently introduced the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act, 2008, and subsequently, by amendment (Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules, 2009), invited applications for licences to set-up online gaming websites (for casino style gambling and also for sports betting - cricket, football, tennis etc.) The servers are based in Sikkim.
It is unclear whether Indian residents, in other states, would be able to avail of the services of these websites in the absence of any local law prohibiting online gambling. As was recently published, an officer associated with the Director of Sikkim Lotteries office confirmed that a total of nine Letter of Intents (LOIs) had been issued by the Sikkim government, whilst only four of the nine LOI holders have procured the provisional license
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Are there any associations where casino owners and/or management come together and represent the casino industry interests?
Yes, there are two, both Goa based and representing almost all the onshore and offshore casinos. They are the Casino Association of Goa (CAG) & the Association of Offshore Casinos (AOC).
Who are the main operators in India at the present time?
Delta Corp Limited - India’s largest gaming company is Delta Corp Limited and I must say that after having visited their offices and operations in Goa I believe they will not only perform extremely well within India but also on a wider global scale. Delta’s website is updated on a regular basis and I would advise people to check it out at
www.deltacorp.in Delta recently acquired a 51 percent stake in the Daman Hospitality Private limited (DHPL) that owns the resort property with casino in Daman, currently managed by Thunderbird Resorts under contract. Delta also owns an-in principle license to set up an additional Casino in Daman. Please also refer to question concerning foreign companies interested in gaining a foothold in India. A wealth of management talent can be found at Delta and I suspect they will have no problems forging ahead in this extremely important market.
Neo Majestic and CP Entertainments - Neo Majestic - now have Casino Pride and Sol Poker operating offshore and with the opening of Casino Palace in the Riviera de Goa Resort at the beginning of April 2011 now have 4 onshore casinos operating in Goa under their CP ENTERTAINMENTS banner all of which can be seen at the website:
www.bestgoacasino.com
Goan Carnival and Leisure Pvt. Ltd.- I had
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