Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering in India

Published

5 February 2016

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By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business press reporter

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

In his two-bedroom home situated in central Mumbai, a middle-aged man is watching the game, nervously. He's resting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his smart phone glued to his right-hand man.

He has made more than 10 hire the last thirty minutes - not to talk about the match but to keep revising his bet.

Five minutes earlier his money was on Australia, today as the Indian batsman gets ready to deal with the last over he's changed his mind.

"I believe India is winning, make the change," he informs his bookie on the phone.

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

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

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

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

'Black money'

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

Without any legal avenue, punters position bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bank on anything associated 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 cash not stated to the taxman.

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any sort of gaming in India, but unlike in the US which has a law restricting internet sports betting, there is nothing similar here.

And offshore wagering business are utilizing this loophole to entice Indians. Despite the fact that there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot individuals have actually signed up accounts with overseas firms.

"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is uncertain for online gaming," says Mumbai- based lawyer HP Ranina.

But in spite 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 actually grown after a panel appointed by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, stating it would help secure down on corruption in the country's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest modifications 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 came to light.

Two franchises have actually been prohibited for two years after some players and group authorities were condemned of fixing parts of the match at the behest of bookmakers.

The panel also argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax revenues for the exchequer that might amount to $2bn a year.

Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting is a relocation in the ideal instructions.

"I don't mind paying some cash out my revenues, as long as I can gamble openly," says our cricket bettor.

It would also open a substantial business opportunity for certified bookies and global online sports betting companies to set up operations in India.

And it would assist limit match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by assisting make deals involved in gambling more transparent.

"If you work together with sports betting business, you will have an extremely effective technique of stamping out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

But lots of also believe, that the taxes levied on the bettor and the bookmaker will have to be reasonable to make it attractive enough for them to gamble legally.

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be illegal sports betting since (some) individuals would not want to leave an audit path by going into the white market," states Mr Oborne.

He adds that people who use unaccounted cash to put big bets will never ever gamble lawfully.

Approval concern

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be required to develop a new law, and politically this will be a difficult concept to offer.

"Even however many people are included in some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable issue for numerous," says our unnamed punter.

And provided that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their territory.

"The process is so long and difficult that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this coming true anytime quickly."

Yet with the concept having actually been endorsed by an official panel for the very first time, a minimum of a dispute has actually sparked around a topic - which up until now was thought about a taboo.