Are online bingo sites legal in India
When it comes to online bingo sites, it’s safe to say that the industry is currently enjoying a boom like never before.
Whether you enjoy speed bingo or progressive jackpot play, the sheer range of games on offer today is really something to behold.
India is known as a nation where bingo has long been beloved, with players long having enjoyed tombola, the national variant of this classic game. With this considered, there have been growing calls to relax regulation around online bingo sites in India.
To say the least, the situation is a complex one. In this article, we will take a look at the legality of online bingo in India whilst taking a close look at the national penchant for this exciting pursuit.
Without further ado, let’s first take a look at tombola, the national variant of bingo that has been enjoyed for many, many years!
Indian culture and tombola
In India, players enjoy a variety of bingo named tombola, also sometimes known as housie. Essentially, players buy a slip before numbers between one and ninety are called out and players mark their slip. Sound familiar? That’s because it is! Tombola really is just Indian bingo.
The main difference is that there are usually twenty-seven squares on each ticket. Tombola also varies in that the entire ticket (all twenty-seven numbers) must be marked off in order to secure the win!
The current situation for online bingo sites in India
In India, gambling remains tightly controlled. In terms of horse racing and lotteries, these are the two most popular forms of legal gambling in the nation today. Due to the sheer size of India as well is its political structure, gambling regulation is on a state by state model and to date, there are just two states in which the practice remains legal (Sikkim and Goa).
Of course, Indians across the nation use foreign online gambling and bingo sites in order to enjoy their favorite games. Whether speed bingo or traditional tombola, online sites based abroad offer Indians some serious options when it comes to enjoying bingo. This is because, in India, it is illegal for companies to operate rather than for individuals to use their services. This is a nice loophole for Indian players to keep in mind when it comes to playing at online bingo sites. Indeed, as long as you are playing at a foreign online bingo site, you’re not doing anything wrong! In order to discover the best places to play bingo online, Indian players can visit bingosites.com and explore the reviews there.
Overall, it can be said that online bingo sites operate in a kind of legal grey area in India. With many sites offering Indian players the chance to enjoy bingo, players are allowed to do so as long as the site is based overseas. Indeed, there has been a surge in top international online bingo sites offering Indian Rupees as a payment method and even providing their pages in Hindi.
