How India Could Benefit from Responsible Gambling

What Mechanisms are Employed by Responsible Gambling Policies

One of the latest research papers published by SevenJackpots is focused on overviewing the methods, tools, and achievements of responsible gambling policies (RG policies) around the world. The study also looks at how RG mechanisms can be employed in emerging markets like India for the benefit of state, business, individuals, and society at large.

As of the moment, India is an unregulated gambling market worth more than $150 billion annually, according to estimates by the International Centre for Sports Security, a Doha-based think-tank that aims to promote integrity and security in sports.

Games of chance, gambling and betting are prohibited in most regions of the country, and the greatest part of this vast market exists illegally, either on the physical black market, or through online schemes and apps, which often turn out to be scammy or fraudulent.

In both real-world and digital realms user protection is not a concern, but links with neighbouring criminal branches like loan sharks can easily be established, as a study by Dr. H. Shah, a psychiatrist at the Shri Govind Guru University, points out.

Most of the country’s prohibitive legislation related to gambling dates from before personal computers existed and this has created a grey legal  area that has allowed the legitimate international casino industry to have some presence on the local market in the face of Casino Days India and several other online platforms, and to provide a safe and responsible alternative to back-alley bookies and similarly shady offerings.

RG is the Focus of the Legitimate Side of the Gambling Business

Licensed online casinos focus their business around responsible gaming and player protection as a chief means to strengthen their integrity, and build credibility and trust.

“Responsible gaming or gambling – also known as Safe Gambling – is an initiative for greater social responsibility promoted by the gaming industry. It is intended to go above and beyond any licensing and regulation requirements,” the research team at SevenJackpots explain.

“Online real-money gaming is a highly competitive sector, and legitimate operators need to stand out when compared to unregulated sites and apps. Thus, RG is promoted as a set of standards that testify to the fairness and integrity of participating operations,” they add.

The following table represents an overview of the most common responsible gaming tools offered by licensed online casinos.

Self-exclusion and cooling-off mechanisms empower players who feel at risk to get a temporary or permanent break from gambling on all sites offered by an operator. Depending on the rules adopted in the jurisdiction, self-exclusions can be requested by family members or can apply to all licensed platforms in the country, like in the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

Various options to set limits on spending, deposits, or playing times, as well as warnings, and numerous help and support resources add up to the basic array of RG mechanisms.

The scope of responsible gambling tools goes further, and many online casinos provide some or more of the following additional safety options and features.

How Successful Are RG Tools in Lowering the Social Costs of Gambling?

The benefits that India can get from regulating online gambling around RG principles are best assessed when looking at the success other jurisdictions have had in curbing the negative consequences of gambling in their societies through the implementation and continuous elaboration of responsible gambling policies.

In Brazil, for example - another large and developing economy with unregulated gambling, legitimate operator data shows that 2.1% of gamblers on their platform have used the self exclusion tool, and an additional 0.4% have opted for temporary cool-off breaks.

According to the researchers at SevenJackpots, such percentages correspond to the percentage of players with problematic gambling behaviour in Brazil.

At the other end of the regulation spectrum is Sweden which is a well regulated and developed market. As per data by the Swedish Gambling Authority, more than 80,000 players in the country have participated in the national self-exclusion program.

As the whole population of this Scandinavian country is around 10 million, with around 4 million real money players, “these figures are encouraging, covering more than the estimated vulnerable and problem gamers in the nation,” the research team points out.

The greatest success, however, can be claimed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) whose long years of efforts to regulate real money games and raise RG awareness have brought down the problem gambling rate on the island to 0.2%, as per data for 2021 and 2022.

A survey conducted in 2020 in the UK established that the tools for setting financial limits are the most widely known and used RG tools among gamblers in the country. At the same time, young players, as well as online and engaged players and the groups most likely to use safe gambling tools, including self-exclusion.