How the Closure of Lotto Shops in India has Increased Interest in Online Lotteries
Lotto is traditionally popular in India. It’s a way for people to win a life-changing amount of money if they are lucky. The legal aspect of playing the lottery in the country is interesting as each state has different rules.
Currently, lotteries are legal in Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram. In states like Sikkim and Kerala people often choose to visit lotto shops to buy their tickets. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused issues due to the temporary closure of these shops. As a result, lotto fans have begun to take part in online lotteries more often. Experts have suggested that this may lead to technology being more central to people’s lottery experience from now on. Let’s consider this in more detail.
Lotto shops during the pandemic
In the early days of the pandemic in India, the distribution of tickets in the Kerala State Lottery and Sikkim State Lottery was seriously affected as shops were not open. In fact, the lotteries themselves were initially postponed.
Although that is no longer the case, the temporary changes caused people to think differently about their lotto play. They looked towards technology for the answer.
The growth in popularity of online lottery technology
Looking at data provided by McKinsey, it’s clear that India is a country that is already embracing digital technology. There are more than half a million Internet subscribers in the country and 12.3 billion apps were downloaded in 2018. This is a higher number than in any other country except China.
Given this background of technology in the country, it’s perhaps not surprising that people are starting to use online lotto technology more often. The closure of lotto shops, as a result of COVID-19, has prompted even more people to embrace this type of technology.
This applies even to people who are not traditionally used to using technology. As they use online lotto sites and apps more often they are likely to see the benefits.
These benefits include having access to lotto tickets at any time and in any location as sites like Lottoland have associated apps that can easily be downloaded to an Android mobile device. Given that the number of smartphone users in the country is expected to be around 442 million by 2022, this is good news for offshore lottery providers and means that they can have a significant impact on lotto play in the country.
The future of lotto in India
Although state lotteries are now up and running again in India, it’s likely that some lotto fans will not return to them. This includes people who have traditionally purchased tickets at a lotto shop and temporarily had to buy tickets for international lotteries online due to the pandemic situation.
It’s not clear what effect this move towards technology will have on the Indian lotto landscape overall. Only time will reveal the outcome.