Government Lottery in India (2023)

What Is a Government Lottery?

The Public Gambling Act of 1867 prohibits the operations of public or common gambling houses in India. The same law delegates the decision-making powers to the states to curate their own gambling laws. As a result, gambling has been legalised in three states — Daman, Goa and Sikkim, where people can visit land-based or water-based gambling houses.

Another type of gambling that has been legalised by the government of India is the lottery. It is regulated by the Lottery Regulations Act of 1998, which legalises government-run lotteries but the final decision remains with the state government.

Lotteries have always been a question of doubt amongst Indian punters because the gambling laws declare that public gambling houses are illegal, but government-run lotteries can be seen in many states. So, many people are confused if buying a lottery ticket would land them in trouble. 

The Lottery Regulations Act of 1998 of India allows any Indian state to legalise and organise government-run lotteries in their state. As a result, there are a few states where you can buy lottery tickets. These are sold through authorised vendors and each state has different days for draws.

Let’s find out more about government lotteries in India.

How Does It Work?

If you wish to buy a lottery ticket, the first step is to make sure that lotteries are not banned in your state and that you buy it from a legal vendor only. We have created a list of all the Indian states where government lotteries are not banned. If you are from any of these states, you can buy the tickets or travel to another state where it is not banned. 

Each Indian state, where the lottery is not banned, has a separate department that manages lotteries and has different schemes, rules and fixed days and hours when the winning numbers are drawn from the lottery machines. Each state lottery department is supervised by the Central Finance Department to make sure of the ethical conduct of government lotteries. 

Also, none of the states is allowed to sell these lottery tickets online. This means that punters can only buy physical paper tickets to enter the lottery. One can see the state logo printed on the tickets for authentication.

How To Play?

If government lotteries are legal in your state, look for an authorised vendor that sells the tickets. Every state has a prefixed schedule of draw days and times. It is recommended to check the schedule before buying the tickets. The drawing event is open to the public, where random numbers are picked through giant lottery machines.

To win a lottery, the number on your ticket must match the winning numbers. It could be one, two or a few numbers or all the numbers on your ticket may match, although the latter is a highly unlikely phenomenon.

Those who win low-tier prizes, where a few numbers on their tickets match the drawn numbers, can collect their prize money from the vendor they purchased the ticket from. When it comes to high-tier prizes, like the jackpot or bumper prize, the prize money is to be collected directly from the state's Lottery Department. Winners must submit all the necessary documents and the Claims Form to claim their winning prize.  

A lottery is the easiest game of chance. One just has to buy a ticket and wait for the draw. They should also know about the schemes offered by different state lotteries and their schedules.

State Laws

Out of 28 states and 8 union territories, only 13 states have legalised government lotteries. This means that it is banned in 15 states and 8 union territories.

The following is the list of 13 states where you can participate in government lotteries and information about their draws, price per ticket and more.

Punjab

Out of all the states, Punjab has the most liberal laws regarding the lotto. There are a total of 16 lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the Directorate of Punjab State Lotteries, Chandigarh. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 20. The official draw of the lottery takes place at the Zila Parishad Building in Ludhiana and is also live-streamed.

Sikkim

There are 14 lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the Sikkim State Government Lottery. The ticket price can be as low as INR 2, which is very cheap compared to other states. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Blawakhani, Gangtok. Online lottery is also available in Sikkim with a wide number of legal lottery sites available.

West Bengal

There are 13 lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the West Bengal State Lottery. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 2. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Ganesha Chandra Avenue, Kolkata. Online lottery is also available in West Bengal.

Arunachal Pradesh

There are 7 lottery schemes conducted every week under the authority of the Directorate of Arunachal Pradesh State Lotteries. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 6. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Itanagar and is also live-streamed.

Assam

There are 13 lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the Government of Bodoland Territorial Council (Assam). The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 2. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Kokrajhar. Online lottery is also available in Assam with several great lottery sites available to play on.

Meghalaya

The lotteries in Meghalaya are conducted under the authority of the State Lottery Department of Meghalaya. Although the lottery was legalised in the state in 1982, there have been no draws since 2007. Therefore, there is not enough information about lotteries in Meghalaya and when the state will resume the draws.

Nagaland

4 active lottery schemes are conducted weekly under the authority of the Directorate of Nagaland State Lotteries. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 6. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Kohima and is also live-streamed.

Manipur

There are 21 lottery schemes conducted under Manipur's authority of the Directorate of Lotteries. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 6. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Moreh, Chandel and is also live-streamed. Online lottery is available in Manipur with a number of great sites available for Indian players.

Mizoram

There are 14 active lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the Mizoram State Lottery. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 10. The official draw of the lottery takes place at IF&SL Building, Tuikhuahtlang, Aizawl.

Madhya Pradesh

Lotteries in Madhya Pradesh started in the 1970s but then were discontinued in the 1980s. Several attempts were made by the government to revive the game but it did not happen for more than a decade. Finally, in August 2021 a notification was issued by the government for the resumption of the state lottery in Madhya Pradesh. 

Maharashtra

There are more than 10 active lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the State Government of Maharashtra. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 10. The official draw of the lottery takes place in Mumbai. Online lotteries are also available in Maharashtra with several great options open for Indian players.

Goa

Goa is the gambling capital of India. You can visit the luxurious onshore and offshore casinos on cruise ships or five-star hotels. There are 5 lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the Goa State Lottery. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 6. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Panjim.

Kerala

There are 14 lottery schemes conducted under the authority of the Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries. The price of a ticket can be as low as INR 40. The official draw of the lottery takes place at Thiruvananthapuram and is also live-streamed.

Punters can only buy paper tickets through the offline mode in all of the above states. The results of the draws are published on official websites and in newspapers. But, you can still buy online lottery tickets for international lotteries in Kerala with a number of sites offering a wide range of foreign lotteries.

How To Buy a Government Lottery Ticket in India?

Offline

Lottery tickets are sold by authorised vendors in each state where the government lotteries are legally operational. One may have to show valid photo identification while purchasing the ticket as proof of age. 

These vendors are authorised by the state authorities to sell the tickets with the official state government stamp on them. They are also authorised to distribute low-tier prizes to their customers if they win in a draw.

Online

Unfortunately, government lotteries are not allowed to be sold online. They can only be purchased as paper tickets through offline modes. Moreover, they are only available to the people who are living in India. This means that the person purchasing the ticket must be physically present in the country.

Gambling Laws in India for Lotteries

Online

The loopholes and lack of strictness, regarding online gambling, in the gambling laws of India, have provided a huge platform for online betting and gambling sites. This is the reason why punters living in the states where gambling is completely banned, where not even lotteries are legalised, do not feel the lack of such platforms as they can visit these gambling sites anytime and from anywhere.

Many international lotteries like Megamillions, Powerball, Euro Millions, Euro Jackpots and more are now available in India through online lotto sites. These sites sell official international lottery tickets and provide a surplus of convenient options for Indian punters to pay for their tickets. 

Offline

The Public Gambling Act of 1867 and the Lottery Regulations Act of 1998 prohibit anyone from operating a common public gaming house in the country. The same laws authorise the same government to make the final decision and create its own laws.

As a result, 3 states have land-based gambling houses and 13 states have official government-run lotteries.