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For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised

Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering in India

Published

5 February 2016

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By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business reporter

It is the last over of the cricket match, with India needing 17 runs to win versus Australia.

In his two-bedroom home located in main Mumbai, a middle-aged man is enjoying the video game, nervously. He’s resting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his cellphone glued to his right hand.

He has made more than 10 employ the last 30 minutes – not to talk about the match but to keep modifying his bet.

Five minutes earlier his money was on Australia, and now as the Indian batsman gets all set to face the last over he’s altered his mind.

“I think India is winning, make the change,” he informs his bookie on the phone.

And a couple of minutes later on his prediction becomes a reality, as India wins the match in a nail-biting finish.

“I have actually made $200 today,” he says with a childish glee.

For more than three decades he’s been banking on cricket matches. We can’t expose his name as what he’s doing is unlawful in India.

Aside from horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, illegal sports betting syndicates grow in the country.

‘Black cash’

According to the Doha-based International Centre for sports betting Security, India’s prohibited sports betting market deserves some $150bn a year. And much of that sports betting money is directed towards cricket.

Without any legal opportunity, punters place bets using their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bet on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the highest individual run scorer.

The majority of these deals involve so-called “black money”, which is cash not stated to the taxman.

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any type of gambling in India, but unlike in the US which has a law prohibiting internet gaming, there is nothing comparable here.

And offshore wagering companies are using this loophole to draw Indians. Despite the fact that there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot people have signed up accounts with offshore firms.

“Legally you can get away [with this], as the law is unclear for online sports betting,” says Mumbai- based legal representative HP Ranina.

But regardless of this, it is “offline gambling”, done through telephone call which dominate the marketplace.

Calls for legalisation

The clamour to legalise sports betting in cricket has grown after a panel designated by India’s Supreme Court proposed the idea, saying it would assist clamp down on corruption in the country’s preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to recommend modifications in the functioning of India’s cricket regulative body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after the 2013 Indian Premier League wagering scandal emerged.

Two franchises have been prohibited for 2 years after some gamers and group officials were found guilty of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookies.

The panel likewise argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax profits for the that might total up to $2bn a year.

Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting is a relocation in the ideal direction.

“I do not mind paying some cash out my revenues, as long as I can bet publicly,” says our cricket gambler.

It would also open a substantial business opportunity for licensed bookmakers and worldwide online sports betting business to establish operations in India.

And it would help limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue lots of, by assisting make deals associated with gambling more transparent.

“If you work along with sports betting business, you will have a really effective method of marking out match fixing,” says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.

But lots of also believe, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookmaker will have to be affordable to make it appealing enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are limitations.

“Definitely there will be illegal sports betting due to the fact that (some) individuals wouldn’t want to leave an audit path by entering the white market,” states Mr Oborne.

He adds that people who use unaccounted money to put huge bets will never ever bet lawfully.

Approval question

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to produce a new law, and politically this will be a hard idea to sell.

“Despite the fact that lots of people are involved in some sort of gaming – it’s still a questionable concern for numerous,” says our unnamed punter.

And provided that India has a federal structural – each state will need to likewise pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.

“The procedure is so long and tricky that it will take years,” states Mr Ranina.”That’s why, we are cynical about this coming true anytime soon.”

Yet with the concept having actually been backed by a main panel for the very first time, at least a debate has sparked around a subject – which previously was thought about a taboo.