Betting in India – What Is It Like?
Online betting legalities vary from one country to another. In Europe, for example, countries such as the UK have clear cut laws that regulate the online gambling industry. As for other countries, they rely on banking or internet laws to regulate the industry. India falls in the latter category where online betting relies heavily on other laws.
Will You Be Prosecuted For Gambling Online? Since time in memorial, there has never been any one person who’s been prosecuted or charged for gambling online.
How Much Tax Are You Required to Pay From Your Winnings? You don’t have to pay any taxes from your winnings. Online betting sites are required by law to pay the taxes on behalf of their bettors.
What do most Indian bettors wager on? Naturally, India is a country where people play cricket as their primary sport. It therefore makes sense that many bettors wager on cricket. Other than that, football, tennis and of late eSports are booking their spot in the top.
Cricket Betting Sites: Legality of Online Betting In India
Before delving much into the legality of online betting in India, it’s worth stating that the laws governing gambling are outdated and need to be reviewed. The Public Gambling Act of 1867, which was set in place when India was still a British colony, continues to serve as the basis for all form of gambling. And some of the laws that have been updated have taken an insanely long time to be clarified or enforced.
So, when it comes to online betting, the laws are dependent on the Federal Information Technology Act (2011). Through this act, all forms of online betting are technically prohibited. It prohibits local companies from setting up shop in India. It also gives the government of India power to ban or suspend the license of any foreign based site. Suspension is usually on a basis that they feel the brand violates other laws that may result in harming Indians.
Does it mean that there is no single state that has legalized sports betting in India? On the contrary, no!
Sikkim legalized all forms of online gambling. The enforcement of Sikkim Online Gaming Regulation begun in 2009, however, it wasn’t until 2014 when the first licensed platform appeared.
Nagaland is yet another state that has enacted laws that regulate the online gambling industry. In 2016, the state passed the Prohibition of Gaming and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill Act. The main objective of this act is to make clear that games of skill and gambling are totally unrelated.
Cherry Picking The Best Cricket Betting Sites – The Factors We Pay Attention To
Playing at one of the top cricket betting sites in India is of great importance. Some would argue there is nothing complicated about it; just sign up at a betting site and make a bet! But it is not as simple as it may sound. There are several points which punters need to consider before picking a betting site. Every player has his/her own strategy for picking up a site, but only a handful will get it right. And the most important point is to get everything right from the word go!
Let us put some facts straight from the start; there’s no strict criteria or formula for picking the best cricket betting sites in India. It is only possible for us to give general recommendation on this topic and you decide for yourself whether the site is worth visiting or not. Bearing this in mind, we try as much as possible to cover all aspects that any player would like to see in a betting site. These aspects/features include but not limited to:
Sporting Events and Markets Offered
Sporting events are at the center of any sportsbook. The events, alongside odds, give betting sites purpose. It’s from this that we also get markets that we bet on. So, it only makes sense that we review online cricket betting sites based on this.
So, what exactly do we look at when reviewing online cricket betting sites based on the sporting events and markets offered? Several aspects including but not limited to:
- The number of cricket events covered
- The number of betting markets accompanying the markets offered
- Other sporting events that the cricket betting site has to offer in addition to cricket
It goes without saying that the more the sporting events covered, the better the betting site. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that. A site can have 50+ sporting events but will accompany these events with very few markets to bet on. So, in as much as we’d like a site to cover as many sporting events as possible, we would like to see it accompany the events with several betting markets.
Odds
As stated, odds are part and parcel of sports betting. It’s because of sports betting odds that we know, which team to back or bet to place. While reviewing online cricket betting sites, we analyse betting odds, focusing on several aspects.
We look at:
- The odds format supported at the betting site – there are three common ones; decimal, fraction and American
- The margins in comparison to other betting sites. We use odds comparison sites as well as our special odds comparison tools to know the site with the best margin(s)
Top cricket betting sites in India will support all the formats above in addition to the more niche ones such as the Hong Kong, Indonesian, and Malaysian formats. And when it comes to margins, they will perform better than the immediate competition. By better, we mean margins as low as 0.05, which when put cumulatively can result to decent odds.
Live betting and Live Streaming
Live betting is all the fuss in today’s online sports betting industry. Not only in cricket betting, but the whole industry at large. Live betting involves wagering on a sport as the events unfold in real time. During live betting, the odds shift in real time depending on how the match progresses.
Live streaming, on the other hand, enables you to stream the sporting event in real time. This means that you don’t have to visit the stadium to watch in order to bet, but rather watch it from your betting platform.
When used together, live betting and live streaming can be one of the most rewarding experiences. This is because you get to place bets based on events that you are actually watching. And while they may be very useful, not all online betting sites offer the services. And some of those that offer have the services limited – especially live streaming – to a few sporting events.
Therefore, when searching for the best cricket betting sites, we look at those that have both features. We ask ourselves:
- Does the site offer in-play betting and how responsive is the feature?
- How good is the live streaming feature? Does it lag when in use? Which platform(s) is the live streaming feature supported?
- Which sporting events are included in the live streaming service?
- How decorated is the live betting market?
Design / Usability
Design and usability go a long way in determining how much you will enjoy the betting experience. It will also determine how much money you can make while betting. This is because some of the bets you have to make need to be placed really fast, especially if you are betting in-play.
A website that is properly designed makes it easy for you to use it. Navigating around is much easy and so are placing the bets. You get to see all the important buttons and markets are visibly clear to you. This enables you to quickly place bets even in the crucial moments. If you need to cash out, you can also do because the cashout button is well placed.
Functionality is also very important as far as design and usability is concerened. Therefore, when writing our review based on the design/usability, we look at:
- How fast the website loads
- How long does it take to create an account
- Do you struggle finding the most important buttons, such as the in-play, cashout, Betslip etc., etc.
- How do the PC and mobile platforms relate? Will you notice a major difference when using any of the two?
Mobile Betting
If you wish to bet online, you have two options to pick from. You can either use your PC/desktop or mobile device to access the services offered. Most of the cricket betting sites in India usually offer both. For us, we will focus on the mobile betting aspect because not all sites have a perfectly seamless, working platform. Since most of our users tend to bet while on the move, reviewing a brand’s mobile betting platform is important to us. While we are at it, we look at the following aspects:
- The supported platforms – is it a download or no download site?
- The applications available – if it is a download platform, which applications are supported? iOS or Android?
Security
Safety and security are two features that you cannot overlook when betting online. You are providing sensitive information, which if entrusted to the wrong hands can be used maliciously. To avoid this, we take our time and review the betting site to see what security and safety measures are in place. These are the parameters that we look at when reviewing the site:
- Does the site have any encryption technology in place? This should ensure your betting sessions are always secure
- How seriously does the betting site take responsible gambling?
- Is the KYC policy strictly enforced at the betting site to ensure your funds are safe at all times?
Payment Methods (Deposit and Withdrawal)
Payment methods in sports betting sites refer to the options that you use to move your money in and out of the site. There are hundreds of payment methods you can use to transact. From eWallets to debit/credit cards, prepaid cards, direct wire transfers and cryptocurrencies, there are plenty of options to pick from. These payment methods come with different deposit and withdrawal limits. They also have different processing times too. There are those that will also charge a fee for you to transact. In India, not all options are supported, especially when it comes to online sports betting.
Seeing how important this is to sports betting, we review our cricket betting sites looking at important areas. While under this, we will look at:
- The payment methods supported
- The speed in which the transactions are conducted
- We look if there are any fees involved in the transactions
- Some online betting sites offer bonuses and promotions when payment methods are used, we look at this and include the information in our reviews
- Lastly, we look at the currencies supported. Is the Indian rupee among the supported ones? If it is, we will include this information in our review
Bonus/Offers and Promotions
