India will miss out on billions of dollars worth of tax in the years ahead if it doesn’t regulate online gambling, OnlineCasino.in research finds
NEW DELHI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
India could be missing out on as much as $1.5 billion in lost tax revenue by not regulating online gambling. This is the conclusion reached in an in-depth report conducted and published by OnlineCasino.in, a leading online casino portal.
Despite a booming middle class and a rapidly expanding internet userbase, only the state of Sikkim has made any meaningful efforts to regulate online gambling in India. On a national level, there seems to be little desire to regulate this lucrative market – even though an ever-increasing number of Indians gamble online.
$1.5 billion wasted
It is estimated that India’s online gambling market, were it to be regulated, would be worth as much as $5 billion. Using current levels of taxation applied in markets where online gambling has been regulated – typically 15-30% of operators’ gross revenue – this means the Indian state is missing out on as much as $1.5 billion per year in potential tax revenue.
This figure is likely to grow over time as well. With internet usage growing rapidly in India, and more and more Indians now joining the middle classes, the online gambling market will grow rapidly in the years to come.
Other benefits ignored
Nor is it just a sizable source of direct taxation that India is ignoring by not regulating its online gambling market. Regulation would bring other benefits, too.
As in other countries, regulation of gambling, including online gambling, can be a great way to create jobs. Likewise, it also offers consumers in those countries a greater sense of protection.
It would also offer the Indian state the chance to finally address the flawed and antiquated laws governing gambling in the country. Many of these laws date back to colonial times, and have little relevance to modern India and its increasingly upwardly mobile, technologically skilled society.
Time for a change
OnlineCasino.in’s in-depth report on the matter covers everything from the potential benefits of online regulation, to demonstrating how India’s economic miracle - along with the spread of the internet in India - is likely to drive this market forwards in the years ahead.
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