First, it is important to note that gambling is governed by Indian states. Goa, Damman and Sikkim all have casinos operating within their jurisdictions. With 29 states and 7 union territories, it is no wonder that there is some confusion as to the legality of online sports betting in India. Given that all the most reputable betting sites operate off- shore, not within India, online sports betting in India is in somewhat of a ‘grey area’ whether you bet in INR or not.
The Indian government has made it illegal to operate and visit public gaming houses through a very old law, The Public Gaming Act of 1867. More recently, the 2000 Information Technology Act prohibits the transmission of information that can ‘corrupt persons’. This act does not however discuss the legality of partaking in sports betting through these websites. With an emerging middle- class, India became a huge market for sports betting despite the legal situation. Even with these laws banning some forms of public gambling, and the grey- area that is online gambling, the Indian Gambling market has surpassed USD 60 Billion annually.
In the late 2000s, the government invited interest from the private sector toward becoming officially licensed gambling sites within India. However, by 2010, Indian regulators failed to devise a system to regulate online sports betting with approved Indian sports betting sites. The system, like those in many other nations would have seen top betting companies bid for lndian betting licenses with taxes being returned to the government. This group of companies included several companies listed on this site. With this failure to create a regulatory framework, many off- shore betting sites continue to accept Indian bettors without having to send funds back to the Indian government and online sports betting in India remains in its ‘grey area’. Luckily there are some excellent online bookies that value Indian customers enough to offer INR accounts.
IndiaBet is your resource to find the best sports betting sites for India. You have questions: which sites are reputable, have great odds, Indian Rupee accounts, INR payment methods and great cricket & football coverage. We have the answers.
Mobile INR sports betting in India: Are there iOS or Android Apps available?
First of all, ensure to enjoy your mobile experience in a discreet manner. You never know who might be looking over your shoulder. In terms of the mobile sports betting platforms available in India, apps are essentially not available. Betting apps are only available when betting from a limited group of European and western countries.
But don’t worry, mobile sports betting is excellent through the mobile websites as offered by each of our listed betting companies – they all offer them. The experience that is available via your smartphone browser is very good. You will have access to the full array of betting markets and features compared to the normal desktop version for all the sports that you love. Furthermore, the LTE networks in India allow for very quick response, which is important when you want to bet live and during an IPLT20 match, the next big ODI, or the next big football match.
The one aspect of your mobile betting that may be limited is with regard to withdrawals. Depending on the INR betting site that you choose, you will likely be able to make deposits via your mobile, but withdrawals are often only available by managing your account wallet from a normal desktop website interface.
Which INR sports betting sites offer the highest odds?
Odds are an important thing to consider not just when choosing a betting site, but with each substantial bet that you might place. Each online bookmaker works within their own odds margins depending on their own business plan. This margin is the amount of revenue a given betting site keeps as revenue from all monies wagered on a given event by all bettors.
The lowest available margins are usually around 2% for the most popular sports like cricket and football and the most popular betting markets. Most other betting companies operate with odds margins around around 4% to 5% for the biggest sports and most popular markets. However, if you really enjoy betting on sports with combination wagers or system wagers or outright winners, Indian bettors might want to think about using an online odds comparison site like oddsjet.com. Their service has a version just for India, which instantly helps users find the best odds for your specific wagers from top sites that serve India, several of which offer rupee accounts.
Understanding KYC – Know Your Customer: It’s not just for Indian bettors & it’s simple
Each and every reputable gambling company is required by their regulators to establish anti- money- laundering processes. KYC or Know Your Customer is the main process for this and it is in place for all customers, not just those that live in India. Don’t worry, you can start betting as soon as you deposit funds. Only your withdrawals are contingent on KYC process completion.
What the KYC process? Before you will be able to withdraw funds from your betting account, your betting site of choice will ask you to provide scanned copies of government issued identification and likely another document such as a utility bill in order to prove your identity. The KYC document information that you upload must match the information used to register your betting account. This KYC account verification process often only takes about a week to complete with most companies.
VIP Rupee sports betting: Which INR betting sites have the highest limits?
All our listed INR betting sites have significant win limits per day. The limits are based on the betting markets and the leagues on which that are related to the given wagers. If a wealthy VIP bettor has only bet on the main betting markets for top- level sports leagues like the English Premier League, Russian Premier League, Spanish Primera, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, UEFA Champions League, UEFA International matches, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL etc, the daily win limit will be €2 million to €250,000 or the INR equivalent.
If you are truly a wealth Indian sports bettor you should probably be betting with Pinnacle below.
Skrill, Neteller EcoPayz all offer Rupee accounts so you may transact directly with your Indian Rupee betting site without having to exchange funds. A selection of these e- wallets are accepted by providers.
Be careful, other payment methods are often listed by betting sites as being compatible with INR, like Entropay. Entropay is a great service as a virtual Visa card. But it only exists in Euros, British Pounds and US Dollars, so while you could use it to fund your betting account in a safe manner as an intermediate payment solution, you would see a loss in value due to currency exchange. To use it, you would likely need to fund one of these three currency balances with your Rupees, then, once at the betting site, the Euro, Pound or Dollar amount would convert a second time, back to Rupees. You will have paid a currency conversion fee twice! In the end, just be sure you use the same currency for your payment solution and betting account.
Are there any INR deposit bonuses available to bettors in India?
Yes. Note that India bookie bonuses and promotional offers come with their own terms and conditions. You should read the terms to avoid disappointment. Understand that the goal of these offers is to provide bettors with added value for their continued play. Nothing on offer is purely ‘free’. All offers will be dependent on your making a deposit and then a number of bets. They also offers one, but you will see it advertised in Euros. The offer will simply be resolved the the currency of your chosen account, likely the INR.
Where can Indian ex- pats in the Arabian Gulf region bet on sports?
If you are looking at a move to countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait or Bahrain, certainly avoid any wagering in a public place, or even in a private place with other people. The safest option is the most discreet one: online bookmakers that do serve these countries, which can be different than those that serve India. While gambling is not an approved activity in these countries, since they are rooted in Islam, the reality is that the countries are all in business with online betting companies through their investments in European sports and football. The clubs they own accept gambling sponsorship revenues, so it would be a bit backward to ban their betting platforms completely. So where can you play if you move to these countries for work? Read about the situation for your particular country of interest for UAE betting sites, or those for Qatar, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.
This is where you need to trust that we have done the research for you. Above, we listed several reputable online bookmakers that do not accept accounts from people in India so finding companies that accept Indian accounts, AND offer the INR is more difficult as we only recommend five companies. We know, we have researched all of the top brands.
Why is betting in your native currency such a big deal? It is because you avoid currency exchange fees. If you register with an online bookmaker that does not offer Rupee accounts, you will lose approximately 5% of the value of each deposit or withdrawal due to hidden exchange fees. These fees are hidden because the rate of exchange that you will pay is not the same rate as the provider that
makes the currency exchange. They mark up the cost to exchange funds, resulting in this 5% loss in value. When you choose to register with any of these companies you can deposit, bet and withdraw funds directly in INR.
Banking with your sports betting site from India: Available INR payment methods
As discussed above, online sports betting remains a grey area within India. Credit card and bank transfers are widely accepted, but due to the situation, these direct payments may sometimes fail. If the payments are successful, your Indian- based payment method will most assuredly record the transaction as associated with your chosen betting site. You might opt for a greater level of discretion.
In order to avoid failed payments and to transact with a higher level of discretion, Indian bettors have widely turned to off- shore e- wallet companies like Skrill, Neteller and EcoPayz. These intermediary payment solutions allow you to transfer funds from your India- based bank account or credit card to your e- wallet account. Then make payments to your chosen gambling or sports betting site from your e- wallet account. This ensures that your transaction as recorded in India is to an e- wallet company which can be used for any kind of online transaction, as opposed to a direct transaction with your betting site of choice.
Are there any reputable sports betting sites that offer Indian Rupee accounts?