Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India
bit.ly
Published

5 February 2016

Share

close panel

Share page

Copy link

About sharing

By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business press reporter

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

In his two-bedroom home situated in central Mumbai, a middle-aged male is seeing the video game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his mobile phone glued to his ideal hand.

He has actually made more than 10 calls in the last 30 minutes - not to discuss the match but to keep modifying his bet.

Five minutes earlier his money was on Australia, today as the Indian batsman prepares to face the last over he's changed his mind.

"I think India is winning, make the change," he informs his bookmaker on the phone.

And a couple of minutes later on his prediction comes real, as India wins the match in a nail-biting surface.

"I have actually made $200 today," he states with a .

For more than 3 decades he's been banking on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is illegal in India.

Besides horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not permitted in India. Despite that, illegal sports betting distributes flourish in the country.

'Black money'

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

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

The majority of these deals involve so-called "black money", which is money not declared to the taxman.

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any sort of gambling in India, however unlike in the US which has a law restricting internet gambling, there is absolutely nothing similar here.

And overseas sports betting business are using this loophole to lure Indians. Although there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot people have signed up accounts with offshore firms.
bet9ja.com
"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is ambiguous for online gaming," says Mumbai- based lawyer HP Ranina.

But regardless of this, it is "offline gambling", done through phone calls which control the market.

Require legalisation

The clamour to legalise wagering in cricket has actually grown after a panel appointed by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, saying it would assist secure down on corruption in the country's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest changes in the functioning of India's cricket regulatory body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after the 2013 Indian Premier League sports betting scandal emerged.

Two franchises have actually been banned for 2 years after some gamers and group officials were discovered guilty of fixing parts of the match at the wish of bookies.

The panel also argues that legalised wagering will bring in tax profits for the exchequer that might amount to $2bn a year.
bet9ja.com
Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a relocation in the right instructions.

"I do not mind paying some cash out my profits, as long as I can gamble openly," says our cricket bettor.

It would also open a big business chance for certified bookies and global online wagering companies to establish operations in India.

And it would help restrict match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue many, by helping make deals involved in gambling more transparent.

"If you work together with sports betting companies, you will have a very effective technique of stamping out match fixing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.

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

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be unlawful sports betting since (some) people wouldn't wish to leave an audit trail by getting in the white market," says Mr Oborne.

He includes that people who utilize unaccounted money to put big bets will never gamble legally.

Approval concern

For sports betting gambling to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to produce a brand-new law, and politically this will be a tough concept to sell.

"Even however lots of people are associated with some sort of gambling - it's still a questionable issue for many," says our unnamed punter.

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting in their area.
bit.ly
"The process is so long and difficult that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this coming true anytime soon."

Yet with the concept having actually been endorsed by an official panel for the very first time, at least an argument has actually ignited around a subject - which until now was thought about a taboo.
bet9ja.com