A look at the benefits and challenges of legalised online gambling

A look at the benefits and challenges of legalised online gambling

Gambling is often a touchy subject when it comes to laws around the world. Some countries have fully embraced the industry with laws that regulate the entire sector while some countries have outright banned any form of gambling.

However, as we have seen over the years, there will be some form of gambling regardless of what the legal framework is. In this article, we argue that legalised gambling can be a positive step and contribute towards the welfare of the players, the state, and the economy at large.

Benefits of Legalized Gambling

The benefits of a regulated gambling market will not only help out players but also the government and the economy. Here are the significant benefits of legalised and regulated gambling:

• It protects players from frauds and scams
  
  Gambling frauds and scams are prevalent in countries with unclear rules for gambling. Since there are no legal options, punters have to resort of illegal means and the majority of them are frauds.
  
  In a legalised and regulated industry, scams and frauds can be weeded out with the use of regulations, guidelines, and penalties. Punters will largely benefit from this since the market will only contain verified and trusted online casinos which are bound by international licenses and privy to regular audits and checks.
  

• It will increase tax revenue for the government
  
  Countries that have not legalised gambling end up missing on a ton of tax revenue. For example, India is a country with an unregulated gambling industry, and it is estimated that the government of the emerging market loses out big time when it comes to tax revenue from gambling.
  
  By legalising and regulating the online gambling industries, large tax revenue can be created that can used for the welfare of the community at large. When we talk about the example of India, some state governments already run state-sponsored lotteries and the proceeds are used for development and welfare of the state.
  
  Similarly, such a system can also be followed for regulated online casinos and the tax revenue derived from them.
  

• Empowering local companies
  
  Due to the challenges that come up with establishing an online casino in an unregulated market, most entrepreneurs choose to incorporate offshore in a gambling-friendly area like Curacao or Malta.
  
  In this situation, a lot of local entrepreneurs and companies cannot participate in the industry due to the high fees involved. The local government can provide licenses for a lower cost, and new companies can be established locally, which can then give back to the country.

Challenges

Naturally, there are always two sides to everything, and the same applies to the argument of legalising online gambling. There are a few challenges that stand in the way of online gambling from being legalised, including:

• Gambling addiction
  
  Gambling addiction is a genuine problem that affects people worldwide. It is true that online casinos make it extremely convenient to gamble since they are available at any time and can be played from anywhere, and it can lead to addiction.
  
  However, in the context of addiction, unregulated and unlicensed sites are much more dangerous as they are not legally required to comply with laws that are specifically designed to stop people from gambling too much.
  
  For example, a lot of online casino sites have mechanisms that prevent you from playing any more once you have lost a certain amount or have played over a certain period of time.
  
  Furthermore, regulations can help manage the problem of addiction by controlling the way online casinos can offer their services which is not possible when it comes to unregulated markets.
  

• Tax evasion
  
  Another argument against legalised gambling is that it will lead to the creation of more black money as people will not pay taxes on their winnings. However, this is also not true.
  
  In the case of unregulated markets, the onus of paying taxes on the winnings is on the player and not the online casino. In the case of regulated markets, the taxes can be directly deducted by the online casino using a mechanism like TDS.

Current options for unregulated markets

As mentioned in this article, there are a number of unregulated markets around the world such as Brazil and India. These countries do not have any specific laws that prohibit online casino sites but also do not have any laws that regulate it.

In these unregulated markets, the best options for punters is to play on licensed international casino sites that offer worldwide services. These sites are bounded by licenses and regulations which ensure they follow certain standards.

For example, some of the best online casino sites in India are all located offshore. Yet according to their ratings, they are highly popular in the country. Their popularity is a further indicator that unregulated markets can benefit a lot by thoughtful regulations and laws.

SEO EDIT BY – SUJAL MATHUR