The All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has reportedly written to India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, calling for a crackdown on illegal offshore betting operators.
According to Indian gambling news site GLAWS, the AIGF’s letter to Modi states that a number of offshore gambling websites are openly accepting bets from Indian players in contravention of the country’s Foreign Exchange Management Rules and cyber laws.
It argues that this increases the chances of gambling addiction as well as posing a threat to national security due to money being taken out of country.
The AIGF wants the Prime Minister to block foreign betting websites from accepting deposits from Indian players and to direct the Enforcement Directorate to conduct a probe against the websites for alleged violations of various Indian gambling and online security laws.
The organization specifically names a number of websites it says are at fault, including 1xbet, Jeetwin, BetRally and Bet365.
Its letter is the latest move in the AIGF’s efforts to have local online sports betting legalized and regulated in India and follows a recommendation by the country’s Law Commission in July to regulate online betting.
In a report titled Legal Framework: Gambling and Sports Betting including in Cricket in India, the Law Commission found that although authorities should ideally enforce a complete ban on unlawful gambling, such a ban was impossible to effectively enforce and that regulation was therefore a better option to protect citizens and generate tax revenue.
RelatedPosts
