Lottery laws in India function according to the Lottery Regulations Act of 1998. The act allows all the Indian states to create their lottery laws and decide whether they wish to legalise lottery in their respective territory or not. Thirteen Indian states preferred the former and Manipur is one of these states.
Due to the popularity of the lottery in India, and the decent internet connectivity, lotteries are also available online. Let’s look at the laws that one should keep in mind while buying tickets through either of the modes.
Online
The absence of any laws to ban online gambling and betting in Manipur provides ambiguity to punters. They can purchase lottery tickets to some of the big rewarding international lottery laws and this may not land them into trouble.
Many other states in India have not specifically mentioned the ban on online gambling in their gambling laws. Like these states, players in Manipur can easily access the lotto websites. The fast internet connection in the city makes it even more convenient for the punters to stay updated with the draws.
Also, international lotteries offer higher prizes as compared to domestic government lotteries. This is the reason why such websites are widely popular in Manipur and other states of India. However, the probability of winning such lottery draws is comparatively much less due to the large number of participants.
Offline
The Directorate of Lotteries in Manipur, following the state government, organises government lottery draws in the state. Multiple lottery schemes are organised in a single day, seven days a week. These schemes, prizes and the cost per ticket are revised once in a while. This means that you may not be able to participate in the same lottery that you may have had a few years back.
The tickets for the official state draws are sold through multiple authorised vendors spread across the state. These tickets are not allowed to be sold online. If you come across anyone selling the official lottery ticket online, it most probably is fake. The tickets sold through vendors should have a government stamp on them.
Only Indian citizens are allowed to buy official lottery tickets in Manipur. This means if you are visiting Manipur from any other country, you may not be able to buy the tickets. The best option for you would be to visit online lottery websites. Also, other state lottery tickets are not allowed to be sold in Manipur. This means you can only buy tickets from other states, like Assam or Nagaland, by visiting these states.