India: Maharashtra bans online lotteries from other states

Government takes steps to protect its state-run paper lottery.

India.- Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and state Finance Minister, Ajit Pawar, has banned online lotteries from other states in order to support the growth of its own paper lottery. 

Maharashtra banned all online lotteries some years ago but since then citizens had been using other state’s online betting sites instead of purchasing paper tickets to the Maharashtra draw.

Pawar said he was concerned about a loss of revenue for the government: “The government has no control over this and there is no way to keep track of the transactions. For this lack of transparency, we have decided to ban the online system,” a spokesperson from the state department, said. 

Maharashtra’s lottery revenues stand at around Rs 132 crore (US$18.6 million) per year.