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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting 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 needing 17 runs to win against Australia.

In his two-bedroom home situated in main Mumbai, a middle-aged man is enjoying 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 made more than 10 hire the last thirty minutes - not to discuss the match but to keep revising his bet.

Five minutes previously his cash was on Australia, and now as the Indian batsman prepares to face the last over he's altered his mind.

"I believe India is winning, make the modification," he tells his bookie on the phone.

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

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

For more than 3 decades he's been sports betting on cricket matches. We can't reveal his name as what he's doing is unlawful in India.

Besides horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, unlawful wagering syndicates prosper in the country.
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'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 sports betting cash is directed towards cricket.

Without any legal avenue, bets using 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.

Most of these transactions involve so-called "black money", which is cash not stated to the taxman.

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any kind of sports betting in India, but unlike in the US which has a law prohibiting web gambling, there is nothing comparable here.

And overseas wagering business are utilizing this loophole to lure Indians. Even though there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot people have actually registered accounts with offshore firms.

"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is uncertain for online sports betting," states Mumbai- based legal representative HP Ranina.

But despite this, it is "offline sports betting", done through call which control the market.

Require legalisation

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

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest modifications in the performance 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 been prohibited for 2 years after some gamers and group authorities were condemned of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookies.
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The panel likewise argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax profits for the exchequer that might total up to $2bn a year.

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

"I don't mind paying some money out my earnings, as long as I can gamble openly," states our cricket bettor.
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It would likewise open a huge business chance for licensed bookies and worldwide online wagering companies to establish operations in India.

And it would help limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by helping make transactions involved in gambling more transparent.

"If you work together with sports betting companies, you will have a really reliable method of marking out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock sports betting website, India Bet.

But many also believe, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookmaker will have to be reasonable to make it attractive enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are constraints.

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

He adds that people who utilize unaccounted money to position big bets will never gamble legally.

Approval question

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

"Despite the fact that lots of individuals are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable problem for many," states our unnamed punter.

And given that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting in their territory.
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"The process is so long and challenging that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this becoming a reality anytime soon."

Yet with the idea having been endorsed by a main panel for the very first time, a minimum of a dispute has fired up around a subject - which previously was considered a taboo.