There is no clear–cut answer to this question, but let us give you some guidelines.
Gambling in India is regulated in the Public Gambling Act of 1867 (!). Even though this law seems to be extremely outdated, it is still applicable. In essence, according to this act, it is illegal to operate or visit a gaming house.
The definition of gambling in this act is not very clear. The law applies to games of chance and not to games of mere skill. For many games, it is not easy to make that distinction. Some games of chance, such as lotteries and also horse race betting, are legalised in India. Isn’t that confusing?
Apart from federal laws, gambling is regulated per state in India. In three states, Goa, Sikkim and Daman, casino gambling is legal. You can visit about ten land–based casinos there, and in Goa also four floating casinos.
In Sikkim, online gambling is legalised by issuing licences. In the state of Maharashtra, on the other hand, online gambling is completely illegal.
What does this all mean to you? In most of India’s states, no law or regulation states that online gambling for Indian players is legal or illegal.
There is also no Indian law stating that playing at an online casino based outside India is illegal.
More and more online casinos accept Indian customers
A growing number of international online casinos accept Indian players, including many casinos with an excellent reputation and licences from respected regulating authorities in the UK and Malta.
Furthermore, there are no cases known of any prosecutions or charges against online casinos operating on the Indian market or Indian players for online gambling. All in all, you might say that online gambling is getting informally accepted in India.
Games Selection on the India Online Casino Market
The games selection is one of the most important things we are looking at when reviewing online casinos.
In general, the quality of the games is a good indicator of the online casino’s quality. If the casino offers games from the best and most respected games providers, then the chances are high that the casino itself will be of the highest quality.
And let’s be fair, if you are going to play with real money at an online casino, you only want to play the best games available on the market, don’t you?
Online casinos in India offer an enormous variety of games from respected software developers. Choose your favourite casino games from leading providers such as Netent, Microgaming, Play’n GO and Novomatic.
You can play online video slots, Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, video poker or exciting Live Casino games, such as Deal or No Deal Live or Lightning Roulette.
Popular video slots include Starburst, Bonanza, Moon Princess, Book of Dead, Mega Moolah and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Are you a fan of betting on cricket or any other sports? Then check your odds and place your bets in one of the online casinos that also have a sportsbook, such as LeoVegas or Royal Panda.
Most games can be played on your desktop as well as on mobile devices.
Great online casino games with many hours of fun and entertainment are waiting for you. Remember, only bet what you can afford to lose, and each online casino game has a built-in house edge.
Although it is possible to beat the casino in the short term, the casino will always win in the long run.
Online Casinos Welcome Bonuses
Most Indian online casinos offer new players a welcome bonus package in Indian rupees. Often you will get a deposit bonus on your first deposit and sometimes also on your next deposits.
Some online casinos also give away free spins on popular slots such as Starburst or Book of Dead on top of the deposit bonus.
Most online casinos will give loyal players extra free spins and reload bonuses from time to time. The online casino will regularly hold special promotions and raffles.
Every casino bonus comes with bonus terms and conditions. Nobody likes them, but they need to be taken into consideration whenever you accept a welcome bonus.
Luckily for you, we have gone through all welcome bonus offers and checked the bonus terms and conditions. There is a separate section devoted to the most crucial bonus terms and conditions in our extensive casino reviews.
We strongly recommend reading the bonus terms and conditions before you deposit or start playing. If you breach the bonus terms, you could face your deposit loss or, even worse, your winnings.
Please be advised that you can also choose to opt-out of the welcome bonus, which means that you don’t accept the bonus at all.
Payments and withdrawals
When you are signing up at an Indian online casino, please consider the following vital things with regards to payments:
- Is your preferred payment method supported?
- Can you make deposits and withdrawals in Indian Rupees?
- Are payments safe and fast?
You can use many different payment methods in Indian online casinos, including Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, Skrill, PayPal, Paysafecard, Bank transfer, Sofort, GluePay, Zimpler, Safetypay, MuchBetter, ecoPayz and AstroPay.
In most online casinos in India, you can use your local currency, Indian Rupees (INR), for your deposits and withdrawals. Welcome bonuses are also offered in INR.
All payments to and from the Indian online casinos that we recommend can be considered fully safe and secure. Trusted encryption methods are being used to guarantee the safety of your money.
Indian online casinos usually don’t charge any fees for deposits and withdrawals. However, some credit card companies or E-wallet providers may charge a fee, so please be advised to always check in advance.
Deposit and withdrawal times may differ, depending on the payment method and the online casino. Deposits are usually instant, although bank transfers may take a couple of days.
Look for online casinos with fast withdrawal times
Withdrawals are subject to approval from the online casino, which in some cases takes some time.
After approval, the payment provider requires 0-5 days to process the withdrawal.
If you have won money at an online casino, you want to be paid out as quickly as possible.
Fast and efficient payments are a critical condition for us, to include an online casino on our list. We always deposit and withdraw money multiple times before we even think about recommending an online casino.
Safety and Security: licences and data protection
When playing online casino games, it is essential to do so at a licensed online casino. The Indian online gambling market is not well regulated. Apart from the state Sikkim, Indian online casino licences are not (yet) available.
We therefore strongly advise playing at online casinos with a licence in the United Kingdom and/or Malta. The gambling authorities in those countries are stringent, and they only issue licenses if a casino can be considered fully safe and reliable.
The regulatory body that issues the licence also demands from operators that they securely protect your data. Financial transactions and data transfers are made safe by the use of encryption processes. Data are stored securely and are never shared with third parties or sold for commercial purposes. Your data and funds must be safe at all times.
To be safe, SuperBigWin will only recommend online casinos with a UK and/or Malta licence.
Customer support at India online casinos
Many Indian online casinos that we recommend provide 24/7 customer support, so you can always get assistance with any issues or questions you might have. You can do this either by live chat, email or phone.
Some customer service centres are based in Europe and provide support during opening hours only, for instance, from 08:00 to 01:00 am CET.
In the Indian time zone, this would be from 04:30 am to 9:30 pm, which might not always be convenient for Indian players.
When we review an online casino, we always test the helpdesk by asking several questions, some easy ones and some very tough ones. This is a critical step for us to test how friendly, quick and professional the helpdesk is.
In general, all online casinos on our list provide good support to their Indian customers.
Author:
John Clark Milner 
