Online Gambling Opportunity In India Is $5 Billion – Boon For Digital Commerce?

By Abhishek Kapoor


“Once a gambler, always a gambler,” they said.. Well there is a gambler in all of us and the great Indian gambling market has found it’s way out in forms of horse races, a pack of cards, local poker joints, lottery and the most popular of them all betting in cricket.

Online gambling market opportunity in India is being pegged at a staggering $5 billion, despite all the the bans it might have faced in markets like the US. The above figure seems big but the overall betting market is even bigger at $40 billion in India. Most of it being on cricket but in recently bookies have seen volumes gaining vigour in football, tennis and Formula-1 as well. India has recently been in the news for opening up its online gambling license and The internet has some top international operators trying to secure India’s first ever online gambling license.

Reports have been published the same could be granted very shortly and some assuming as early as within next 1-2 months. Secondly, India’s first ever Professional Poker tournament in Goa, Asian Poker Classic, attracted players from all over the world, had some 80 Indian players in the tournament. Once the subject of online gambling is raised, folks immediately bring up the question of legality. I personally think we will need a mixture of both, state control and legalisation to tackle this complex issue.

Online Gambling Boom and its impact on Digital commerce and payments

If online gambling is here to stay, this should be a boon for digital payments via mobile and cash cards, isn’t it? Online gambling is in its early stage in India but Sikkim plans to offer three online gambling licenses in 2010. Sikkim also permits an online lottery operator Playwin, which helps players to bet throughout India. It is expected that other states will follow Sikkim shortly, thereby opening up a major online gambling market throughout India. Britain’s biggest betting companies are bidding for the first online gambling licence in India to gain a slice of the country’s betting market. William Hill, along with internet players Betfair and Bwin, are bidding for the internet license, so why shouldn’t we expect more Indian online gambling operators?

E-commerce almost being at stake right now can rely on online gambling to make a mark. In order to get people online to use their credit cards other than during the times of Diwali shopping and Christmas, this seems like a titillating opportunity. No matter what people say or feel about it, gambling does exist. Resistance seems futile as attempts at suppression yield little result and can trigger a long chain of other problems such as extortion and corruption. What’s your take on this issue? When companies like Playwin and Party Gaming can exist, how long before we see a full fledged internet gambling fiesta?

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