Online Gambling: Why Choose Indian Rupee over Other Currencies

Online casinos and rupees do not always see eye to eye. Despite India being a lucrative market, many operators do not want to bother due to our restrictive laws. They will happily accept players from India, but will not go out of their way to appeal to them. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. However, they can be hard to find.

Still, if you can find an online casino that accepts Indian Rupees, there are several advantages to using it. Ones that make it well worth the extra hassle you have to go through to get it! What are the benefits you get of using our currency compared to US dollars or euros? Read on to find out!

No Exchange Rates

Indian punters are no strangers to having to pay a fair amount in exchange rates. This is not something anyone enjoys, but it still exists. You have two options. You can let whatever online casino payment method you use automatically convert it at their exchange rate. Alternatively, you can physically exchange it for a more favourable price, but then you have to deposit it manually. Both options are not ideal.

However, rupees avoid all of those issues. Since you are not swapping currencies, there is no exchange rate cost. This is fantastic news for players, as it is one less fee to worry about. Now you just have to worry about e-wallet fees, or you can try to risk it with credit/debit card transactions. Not great, but certainly better than before!

More Convenient

This falls under the previous category partially. You are saved a fair amount of extra effort in having to bother with exchange rates. That said, that is not the only convenience that playing with rupees offers. New players often had a hard time budgeting since they had to convert from their native currency to a foreign one. If the online casino automatically accepts Indian rupees, that is no longer an issue.

Technically Legal

In 1999, the Parliament of India passed the Foreign Exchange Management Act, shortened to FEMA. The law set up multiple regulations relating to foreign exchange markets in India. One of the limitations it introduced was to restrict payments using foreign currencies to people outside of India. Such transactions had to be done through an authorized person.

₹500 Banknote

Why playing in your own currency is a smart decision.

Because of this law, Indian punters usually had to go with the option of accepting exchange rates offered by their e-wallet services. This was not ideal, but it was better than not playing at all. Then, if you won money, you had to transfer it back to rupees, which cost you even more. All of this was a circumnavigation of FEMA and naturally made many players feel wary.

Fortunately, online casinos nowadays increasingly support depositing, withdrawing and playing with rupees. While the legality of online gambling still remains murky, punters can at least know they are not violating FEMA.

Disadvantages of Playing with Rupees

There are some obvious advantages to using our local currency. However, it does come with some restrictions. For starters, your selection of available operators will be impacted. Large online casinos have been increasing their support for Indian rupees, that much is true. That said, many smaller websites still do not support our currency. If you want to enjoy these operators, you will have to swap to something else.

Another limitation can be in the available payment methods you can use. Again, big e-wallet services like Skrill and Neteller will support rupees. Many online casinos restrict these particular e-wallet services from accessing certain bonuses. If you want to get these promotions, you will have to look into another e-wallet. However, there is no guarantee other services will support Indian rupees.

Closing Thoughts

India’s gambling market continues to grow exponentially every year, in spite of restrictions on online play. This leads more and more websites to take notice of our players and make efforts to court them. As a result, we expect the disadvantages of playing with rupees to disappear in a few years.

As a result, you might as well get a head start and enjoy the benefits right now! While you may have to make some minor sacrifices, it should not negatively affect you all that much. All you have to do is find a good online casino – but that is what your friends at Indiancasinoclub.in are for!