Gambling has always been a favourite pastime in India, with around 80% of the population said to gamble at least once a year. The rate of gambling in the country continues to increase despite hostile laws.
The central gambling law in India is the Public Gaming Act of 1867, but individual states have since been empowered to create their own laws through the Indian constitution of 1950.
Among the states that have drawn up their own gambling regulations is Odisha. Soon after the passing of the Indian constitution, the state of Odisha enacted its own gambling act, called The Odisha Prevention of Gambling Act of 1955.
Prior to this, Odisha was governed by three different acts – the Public Gaming Act, the Bengal Gaming Act, and the Mandras Gaming Act- with different areas of the state adopting different laws, but they were all unified under the Odisha Prevention of Gambling Act in 1955.
The unified law set out to punish gamblers and owners of gaming houses, and to ultimately abolish gambling in the state. Anyone found guilty of gambling in Odisha will be punished with a fine or a prison term, or both. Depending on the severity of the offence, the fine can be between 100 Rupees and 1000 Rupees, while jail term ranges from one to six months.
According to the act, gambling refers to “a play or game for money or other stake and includes betting and wagering and other act, game and contrivance by which a person intentionally exposes money or things of value to the risk or hazard of loss by chance“.
The act does not consider lottery as a form of gambling, but it frowns at dice, cards and table games. The state of Odisha does reserve the power to give special permission to any social club or party to organize such games, as long as the games are being played for recreational purposes.
Like most gambling laws in India, the Odisha Prevention of Gambling Act creates plenty of room for controversy. The law clearly mentions “chance” in its definition of gambling, but not skill, which suggests that games of skill are not prohibited. But then again, how do you differentiate games of chance from games of skill? Also, at no point does the act talk about online gambling.
Odisha has witnessed a rise in gambling activities in recent months, with police making a number of arrests, but the offenders have mostly been involved in land-based gambling, and not online gaming.
People have been playing online casino games without getting into any trouble with the authorities. Online casino players in Odisha are technically not breaking any laws, since that part of gambling is not adequately covered by the prevention of gambling act. In fact, offshore online casinos are allowed to accept Indian players, as long as their customers play in Rupees.
Besides, given the prevalence of mobile phones, easy accessibility to the internet, and consequent increase in online gambling, it is almost impossible to stop people from participating in the act. The police will probably have to arrest the whole of India if that were to be the case!
Indians now have the luxury of choosing from so many wonderful online casino sites. These casinos do not only have popular international games like blackjack, baccarat and roulette, but also Indian games like Teen Patti and Andar Bahar. There is also the option of playing live casino, for those craving more real-life casino experience.
So if you must gamble in Odisha, make sure you do it online. Please stay away from gaming houses, else you may get into trouble with the authorities.
