Indian online gambling developments

The bid by the Sikkim provincial government of India to regulate and legalise online gambling took another step forward last week when the Sikkim Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Amendment Bill.

The provincial government has been toying with the idea of such an initiative for some time and has had an encouraging response from industry companies keen to become involved.

However, the initiative still faces a major challenge in the form of the Indian federal government’s Information Technology (Due diligence observed by Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011 passed earlier this year. This measure requires all Indian internet-related companies and entities – including ISPs – to play an active role in fighting the proliferation of socially unacceptable material, which it defines as including that related to the encouragement of gambling or money laundering.

Given caveats in the Sikkim contracts with interested parties that the province is not liable for material changes necessitated by central government decisions, it appears that the province acknowledges that federal lawmakers still hold the real power.

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