Maharashtra Online Lottery

Lottery Laws in Maharashtra

Under the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887, public gambling houses are strictly banned in the state. This means anyone organising, participating or contributing to such activities may be punished. However, the scenario is slightly different when it comes to lotteries or online gambling.

Online

The gambling act in Maharashtra provides a loophole that protects people’s interest in participating in online gambling. Since there is no specific law that bans online betting and lotteries, people can participate in such activities without the fear of breaking any laws.

Many online gambling and lottery sites have an extensive collection of international lottery draws that offer huge jackpot prizes. Recently, these websites have gained immense popularity amongst Indian punters due to the convenience of buying lottery tickets.

However, the government lottery draws, that are organised by the state of Maharashtra, are not allowed to be sold online. It is illegal to sell official tickets through any online platform. Similar rules are implemented in the other states of India as well. 

Offline

The Lotteries Regulations Act of India, 1998, governs the lotteries in Maharashtra. It allows states to organise lotteries that are regulated and monitored. These lottery tickets are only to be sold offline through authorised vendors and printed through authorised units that are under the control of RBI.

Each ticket has a government logo and a unique barcode that is difficult to forge. When buying the Maharashtra state lottery ticket, make sure to check these two authorisation marks as there have been many incidents where people were denied claims as their tickets were fake.

Like other states of India, people in Maharashtra cannot buy lottery tickets from other states. Also, you may be denied the claims if you are living in any other state and bought a Maharashtra state lottery. If you wish to check the results, you can visit the official government lottery websites where live draw results are published.

How To Buy Lottery Tickets Online in Maharashtra

Finding an authorised vendor that sells authentic tickets requires more effort as compared to online platforms. Though you cannot buy Maharashtra government lottery tickets online, lotto websites come as a great alternative.

Lottery websites like Lotto247, Playhugelottos, LottoSmile, TheLotter and Lottoland are licensed and regulated where you can buy tickets to some of the promising international lotteries like MegaMillions, US Powerball, EuroMillions and more.

The steps given below will help you buy tickets on any of these websites easily.

• Choose the website and register yourself as a player with it.
• Submit all the required documents or information to verify your account and payment details.
• Choose the lottery you wish to enter. There are plenty of options available, choose the one which attracts you more.
• Select the number of tickets you want to buy and the days of the draws. You can also pick the numbers manually or use the random number selector.
• Make the payment for each ticket or each draw you enter.
• Wait for the draw date and check the results on the lottery website. 

Online lottery websites are much more convenient than offline lotteries in many ways. They are licensed and sell official tickets for the draws. The payments are seamless and you get to pick the numbers on your ticket yourself. They also offer subscriptions to multiple draws at one-time payment.

How To Buy Lottery Tickets Offline in Maharashtra

There are approximately 10 lottery schemes that are organised by the government of Maharashtra. These draws are scheduled for Monday to Saturday, leaving Sundays and three national holidays. There are two draws each day except for Tuesdays and Fridays.

The highest paying draw is Akarshak Puskaraj which is scheduled for Thursdays and offers a jackpot of INR 11 lakh. The Maharashtra Lakshmi draw organised on Saturdays pays INR 7 lakh as the first price. Other weekday lottery offers prizes ranging from INR 1 lakh to INR 5 lakh.

These tickets cost between INR 30 to INR 100 and can only be bought in paper format through authorised vendors. You can visit these vendors and buy the tickets for different draw days. Selling these tickets outside the state boundaries or online is strictly prohibited.

Bottom Line

Maharashtra offers multiple options for lotteries. There are both online and offline lotteries available that deliver multiple draws with distinct jackpots. However, a player must take care of their safety and buy only original tickets for these draws.

For the offline mode, the state stamp and bar code work as an authentication mark. For the online mode, people can check if the website is licensed. Play responsibly to prevent any mishappening.