One of the most lucrative markets for online gambling are India. As the world´s second most populated country, there is a big interest in gambling. Sports such as cricket have many millions of viewers, and the interest is growing by each day. However, the gambling market is poorly regulated. With next to none regulation, officials estimate the black market for sports betting to be worth an estimated 2 billion USD.
The black underground gaming market has lead to problems with corruption and fixed games in the national cricket league IPL. This is one of many reasons why many politicians now want to regulate the market. This will firstly and foremost affect betting, but online casino is also thought to be affected in the future.
What does the Indian betting market look like?
The regulation would cover everything from license and taxation for operators, but also affect a player´s safety, such as limitations of deposits and maximum bet. Indian officials have looked at the UK model and the UK Gambling Commission. To use the tax money from betting to finance the nation´s youth sports is something that has been discussed.
It is estimated to take at least two years to go through with such a regulation to reach a national license for gambling in India. Just as many other large countries such as Brazil, China and Russia, politicians have started to see the benefits of licensing the national markets for betting, lottery and casino.