Online Lottery Schemes Banned by Punjab Government

The state of Punjab has banned all types of online lottery schemes operated by Indian or foreign lottery sellers in the state, as per an official spokesperson.

On 31st January 2020, the government of Punjab took the decision of banning online lottery schemes under Section 5 of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998.

As per a report by the New Indian Express, a spokesperson, after a cabinet meeting in Punjab, said that this step to ban online lottery schemes in Punjab will not only help in curbing the sale of illegit lotteries in the state but will also help in boosting Punjab’s revenue and non-revenue collections from lottery sales.

The spokesperson also said that the cabinet of the state has also given approval to prohibit the sale of computerised and online lotteries promoted and sold through modes like vending and electronic machines and terminals. These modes, in addition to all types of online lotteries sold, organised or marketed through the internet by any operator in or outside India, are to be banned in Punjab.

With this decision, the Punjab government will only allow sale of paper lottery tickets within its territory.

In 2015, the Punjab government then announced its intention to start online lottery schemes in a bid to generate revenue for various welfare schemes. Almost six years hence, the state has decided to go back on its decision by banning all types of online lottery schemes.

Recently, the state of Maharashtra had also announced that it was contemplating a ban on online lotteries as there is no defined way to track online sales of lotteries, which leads to loss of revenue for the state.