Gaming
Sikkim government issues second 'go live' license to Maarm International, licensee to start operations by April
Exclusive Almost three months after the Sikkim government issued the first regular or ‘go live’ license to a subsidiary of Future Gaming, the Sikkim lottery department today issued a second regular license to M/s Maarm International Private Limited for a period of five years from 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2020.
The regular license has been issued on the same conditions that were imposed on Future Gaming earlier. The conditions include making the online sports betting/gaming facilities available only within the state of Sikkim through intranet connection, ensuring that online gaming activities do not traverse to other states/Union territories, onus on licensee to provide online facility/network to players etc. The license has been issued on payment of a consolidated fee of one crore rupees for a period of five years with an option to further renew the license for a period of five more years. It is understood that some other lottery operators and gaming companies are also in a contention to get a regular license and are in the process of completing necessary formalities.
Manoj Sethi, Director of Maarm International said that he is extremely pleased that the Sikkim government has issued the ‘go live’ license to their company. Sethi added, “We are very happy that the Sikkim government has started the process of online gaming regulation. We have made all preparations and started building the necessary infrastructure as well as technical support. We hope to start operations within the state of Sikkim as soon as possible and definitely by April 2015. We are also in talks with the Central government and other state governments to ensure that online gaming is legalised in more states and Union territories.”
Sethi also stated that his company would collaborate with Jalaram Group of Industries and its founder Mohan Ganatra and Golden Lotteries, which is an established lottery brand in Sikkim, to provide state of the art gaming facilities in Sikkim. Future Gaming CEO Kapil Khanna had earlier stated that his company was trying to start online operations at the earliest and would definitely aim to go liv by April. It is thus evident Sikkim residents will at least have an option of wagering on at least two legal online gaming websites by the time the new season of Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off.
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vikas
January 27, 2015 at 12:48 pm
sir
does it mean if any other state resident is in sikkim for ten days then he geographically located in Sikkim
so can he operate with these sites legally for that period of time
please help out my confusion
Jay Sayta
January 27, 2015 at 1:21 pm
Resident of any other state who is geographically located in Sikkim can also play.
vikas
February 1, 2015 at 11:44 am
sir
as the information given on ur site two go live licenses has issued and may be they go live by april 2015
but i have searched daily on net about this topic why there is no information on this issue on any site expect ur site
please inform me where i can get detail information on this topic
Jay Sayta
February 1, 2015 at 7:38 pm
Hi Vikas- thanks for your comment. Since the story was exclusively broken on glaws.in information is not available on other news sources. More information will be available in the public domain by March or April.
vikas
February 18, 2015 at 3:02 am
hello jay
any updates about launch of betting sites
Jay Sayta
February 21, 2015 at 1:41 pm
We should have some more clarity and update by end of March.
Anup Ganguly
March 19, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Thanks Mr. Satya for ur information regarding Casino. Iread it DNA Newspaper also. can we help me regarding sikimm Casino games ( control & tax) Act 2002. I got 2007 Notficatin also.
Thanks & Regards
Anup Ganguly
Mumbai
Anup Ganguly
March 19, 2015 at 5:30 pm
Thanks Mr. Jay Sayta for ur information regarding Casino. Iread it DNA Newspaper also. can u help me regarding sikimm Casino games ( control & tax) Act 2002. I got 2007 Notficatin also.
Thanks & Regards
Anup Ganguly
Mumbai
vikas
March 27, 2015 at 1:09 am
sir
can u publish an article on going process of launch of online betting sites in sikkim as ipl is about 10 days to go
Jay Sayta
March 27, 2015 at 9:45 am
As of now there are no updates but some licensees are likely to start operations soon. Will update when the sites go live.
Siddhartha Jain
April 22, 2015 at 8:37 pm
Thanks for the article Jay. “…in the process of completing necessary formalities” – It will be good to understand what these ‘formalities’ are?
Any update on the launch of betting sites given we are at the end of April?
Jay Sayta
April 22, 2015 at 9:06 pm
Formalities include getting the necessary software and technical infrastructure in order as well as complying with the legal provisions. Playwin had launched virtual horse-racing for a short time. Playwin & Maarm should start full-fledged operations in a very short time now (perhaps within 15 days) as government tweaks some laws and regulations.
Not clear if these websites would be available online across India though, in all likelihood they would be accessible via intranet only in Sikkim.