Online Lottery in India (2023)

Indian Online Lotteries (2023)

In 1967, Kerala was the first Indian State to set up a lottery program that was officially run by the government. Soon, other States followed the footsteps of the South-Indian state and thus began the establishment of the Indian lottery system. 

Lotteries were not only about winning money, they became a part of Indian culture. In North India, lotteries were often purchased around Diwali as it was believed that goddess Lakshmi will bring abundance and the holder of the lottery ticket will win. 

As a country, India has been largely against betting but it has been extremely lenient towards lotteries. With the Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998, the central government gave autonomous powers to the States for drafting lottery rules. At present, 13 States have legalised it while 15 other States and 8 Union Territories have banned it. Private lotteries were never deemed legal, to begin with.

Online lotteries are not under anyone’s jurisdiction. Therefore, they are a way out for punters in those states where the laws against gambling are strict! Punters can now easily access foreign lotteries with just a few clicks. 

How to Play Online Lottery in India

In the past decade, India has witnessed a steady increase in online casinos. Considering the growing demand, game developers are creating games just for their Asian audiences. Games like Andar Bahar, Teen Patti, and Jhandi Munda are targeted at Indian punters.

Since the lottery has always been one of the most famous gambling activities that require minimum effort, many online casinos allow Indian players to play online lottery as well.

Online casinos allow players to play international lotteries as well, like Mega Millions, Powerball, EuroMillions and more. The prizes offered online are also significantly higher than what state lotteries offer.

The lottery is a chance game. In a physical lottery, punters are given a series of numbers. The dealer picks out random numbers and the one who has the ticket with the matching number is declared the winner. In the online lottery, the rules are slightly different. While it remains a chance game, players are supposed to manually select the numbers that they ‘feel’ have a chance of winning.

Different casinos offer different gameplay. However, the steps for playing the online lottery are generally the same. Even if you have never indulged in it in the past, you can play it online. Here are the steps:

• Create an online account at an authentic online casino.
• Browse their game selection and choose the lottery game that you would like to bet on.
• Manually select the numbers that you think are hot. Some casinos also have the selector grid option. Else, you can randomly choose the numbers as well. 
• Once you are satisfied with your selection, hit the purchase button. 
• Make the payment and the lottery numbers will reflect in your account
• The winners are notified by the casino via email

Where to Play Online Lottery in India?

Several online casinos offer lottery-based games in India. Here are our top picks:

Lottoland: a dedicated online casino for lotteries, Lottoland is a dream come true for lottery enthusiasts. Along with 6 dedicated lotteries, the casino also offers a seasonal lottery as well. It has both Indian and foreign lotteries. All major domestic wallets like PayTm, GPay, and other cards can be used to make the purchase.

LottoSmileIndia: another great online casino for lotteries, LottoSmile India claims to offer some of the biggest jackpots in the world. Most of the games and information have been translated into Hindi which makes it easier for the domestic crowd to understand the game in a better light. This casino has an app as well that is supported by both Android and iOS.

Lotto247: as the name suggests, this Lotto247 is operational 24*7. On creating an account on this platform, and purchasing the first-ever lottery ticket, users are given one free US Powerball entry. The casino does not accept Indian wallets but deposits can be made using IMPS, MasterCard, Visa, and other payment platforms.

Multi Lotto: lottery and casino lovers must try Multi Lotto. Many deem it to be the best in business. With a huge variety of international lotteries, easy payments, withdrawals, and the acceptance of various wallets, Multi Lotto has made betting on lotteries easier.

Government Lotteries in India

Under the Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998, 13 States currently operate government-run lotteries. These are:

• Goa
• Assam
• Kerala
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Madhya Pradesh
• Meghalaya
• Manipur
• Mizoram
• Punjab
• Nagaland
• Sikkim
• West Bengal

If you wish to purchase an offline ticket, you can go to the authorized ticket sellers to try your luck. All the major prizes are given to the winner directly by the authorities. The smaller wins, however, are given by the authorized sellers.

How to Purchase Online Lottery Tickets in India

Unlike other online games, online lotteries are not regulated by the Indian government. You can easily purchase an online lottery ticket from an online casino that offers this chance game. Choose a casino that has a proven record of safe payments and offers different types of lotteries. Then:

• Create an account on its website
• Make a deposit
• Select the lottery type
• Choose the desired numbers
• Place your ticket
• Wait for the draw to take place

How is Online Lottery Better

Online lottery is superior to the traditional lottery in every way. Earlier, the ticket holder with the winning numbers would have to come forward to claim the prize. In case they receive the notification later and do not show up on time, the prize is forfeited by the state/ There were numerous prerequisites as well that they had to follow before they could take their winnings home. Some States even imposed a hefty tax on the profits. And, let’s not forget that in many States and Union territories, lotteries are banned as well.

None of these is applicable in an online lottery. Since these are outside the jurisdiction of the Centre and State, these are legal everywhere in India, which is generally not the case with other gambling games. The winner does not have to stay glued to the phone or the screen to check whether or not they have won. It is the casino’s responsibility to notify them. And, finally, the winnings are directly credited to the verified accounts of the winner. Online lottery is certainly hassle-free.

Biggest Online Lottery Jackpots in India

Several promising lottery jackpots attract punters from all over India. The prizes reach crores. The Powerball ticket that is drawn on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday can give you a jackpot worth 158.64 crores!

Some other high-paying jackpot tickets include Mega Millions, EuroMillions, EuroJackpot and SuperEnnaLotto. You might think it is impossible to win these big international lotteries, but there are plenty of Indian lottery winners including this top 10 list of the biggest lottery winners from India. The biggest winner from India was in March 2019 with a massive $50 million win from the Mega Millions lottery.