is India the most promising market in the iGaming industry?
As one of the most populous countries in the world with more than 1.5 billion citizens, India has always been regarded as a sleeping giant with enormous potential by the iGaming industry. Besides, the latest surge of investors and a stronger economy have given birth to a new social class with a comfortable income and financial stability. This new economic class can afford to spend a lot more money on entertainment and in online casinos.
Following the current circumstance, the whole online casino industry is experiencing a peak in traffic. Surely because more and more people are urged to stay home, and therefore resort to playing in online casinos to relax and let off some steam. This peak has also been registered by online casino operators in India.
A potential giant attracting the biggest European iGaming companies
In recent years, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of European iGaming companies expanding their activities on the Indian market. While some may barely do the required minimum to accommodate Indian players, many casinos that understand the tremendous potential of the market, go the full extent to launch a dedicated site for the Indian audience. That includes providing an interface translated into the local languages, customized promotions that the audience can relate to, an option to place wagers and bets in Rupee, and a customer support team speaking Hindi, Bengali and English.
Among the big names trying out the Indian subcontinent adventure, we can mention casinos in the likes of:
Leovegas
Casumo
JackpotCity
Betway
Rizk Casino as well as many others.
What is the current legal status of the gambling market in India?
As in most societies around the world, gambling has always been a controversial topic. Whatever its nature, for certain people betting with real money has always had a negative connotation and is often associated with vices, addictions, and many other problems it can cause to irresponsible players.
However, gambling has always been a part of Indian society throughout its rich history, even without a total unanimity in all the states and communities. India being a federal country, each one of the 29 different states is responsible for making the laws and regulations on the consumption and taxation of online casinos and other gambling activities operating under its jurisdictions. And all under the supervision of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC).
Despite the appearance of a well-organized structure, there are still certain gray areas and inconsistencies in certain states regarding the enforcement of laws for some forms of gambling. Particularly, for online casino games that do not require any specific skills.