Sports betting or card games have been around in India for longer than we can remember. Bons gambling has deep roots not only in India’s past but also in the present.
History of Gambling in India
The history of gambling in India goes back a long way. It is believed that gambling in India originated as early as 7300 BC. Ancient Indians gambled using walnuts as dice. In addition, they placed bets on fighting roosters, and horses and waging wars.
With the advent of the British Empire, cricket became popularized in India and became a well-known sport in the country. The growing popularity of cricket is also associated with an increase in the number of bets on this sport.
While physical gambling has every chance to be considered illegal in most states of India, there is still a secret as well as an illegal criminal society of bookmakers offering betting opportunities during such incidents, like the IPL.
Gambling in India
In India, most gambling is illegal. At the same time, some gambling is allowed that does not contradict the norms of the constitution and the codes of judicial decisions, such as lotteries and horse races. There have been proposals in the legislature about the possibility of regulating sports betting, but so far they have not led to anything.
The basic law on the restriction of gambling in India is the Public Games Act of 1867. Initially, the law was applied only in 10 states, which at that time were under the control of the British Empire. Later amendments were made that included all other states.
The law is still in force, even though it is more than 150 years old.
But in recent years, India seems to have embraced the possibility of online betting. Since the Decree on Gambling in 1867 does not prohibit the use of Internet betting websites located outside the borders of the state, Indians now have every right to make online bets, together with the support of which they have every chance to bet online!
However, it is not only with the support of this loophole that Indians have become more inclined to spend their funds on betting websites or gaming applications for real money. There are several interdependent conditions, one of which is considered to be an increase in the technology of numerical payments, similar to UPI.
UPI History
In 2011, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) conducted a study of the cashless payments market in India. Despite the wide network of accepting cards for payment, non-cash payments were not very popular. On average, there were only 6 card payments per person per year. In addition, the Indian authorities were looking for measures to combat black market earnings, tax evasion, and corruption.
To eliminate these problems, NPCI received a new task – to create a payment service that would simplify the conduct of non-cash transactions, and make them accessible and safe for almost all segments of the Indian population. And in 2016, such a service was developed and launched for mass use. It became UPI – a unified payment interface for online transfers in real-time. The service was intended to be used exclusively by mobile phones. And this is also not accidental – according to the number of telephone users, fixed and mobile, the telecommunications network of India, according to the beginning of 2022, was the second in the world, and the total number of its subscribers exceeded 1.1 billion.
The creators were not mistaken – this service quickly became in demand and one of the most popular payment methods in India, surpassing all expectations. The CEO of Global Data Centers and Cloud Infrastructure company NTT Ltd called UPI one of the first and most successful innovations in the field of deep technologies in India. Already in December 2019, Google even put forward a proposal to the US Federal Reserve Board (FRS) to develop a FedNow digital payment system for the US market, similar to UPI.
UPI Value in India
According to NPCI, 2020 was the year when UPI became the giant it was supposed to be – from about September to December, the number of transactions made through UPI increased exponentially. In addition, according to NPCI, the transaction amount reached 416,176 crores.
UPI is also expected to take over a significant portion of trading in the digital payments sector in India, increasing from 17% in 2018 to 59% in 2024. These figures indicate the gigantic growth rates of the numerical payments section in India over the past couple of years.
Until the emergence of alternatives to digital payments, India’s economy was largely dependent on cash. At that time, the use of gaming applications or websites to bet on real money was almost incredible. And there was also less trust in Internet platforms for the undoubtedly safe transfer of your money.
UPI’s Influence on Gambling
On the other hand, due to the growing confidence of people in Internet payments, and besides the ease with which such money transfers have every chance to be made literally in a matter of seconds, society has every chance to use betting websites for Internet betting. Since, without exception, more and more websites for betting are currently starting to implement UPI, and besides, other additions for digital payments, such as Paytm and PhonePe, people who are interested in Internet games have every chance to simply deposit and withdraw funds using data ways!
In the example of the online casino bons in addition to the obvious simplicity of the application, the appeal of games, in which real funds take part, has also increased along with the emergence of digital payments in India. This undoubtedly contributes to the formation of a sphere opened for Internet betting and real money games, which has become a good method for people to let off steam, and besides, probably, to get a little money on the side. Therefore, many people choose bons to play for money online.
An important factor in gaining great popularity is the availability of cashback and scratch cards. If there are scratch cards or cashbacks in this case, most of the applications for digital payments also give some finance fees or games for the user to return to this application. Although other conditions have also contributed to an increase in the popularity of Internet games and betting, it is impossible to refute that UPI and similar additions for digital payments have played a significant role.
