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 requiring 17 go to win against Australia.

In his two-bedroom home located in main Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is viewing the game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his cellphone glued to his right-hand man.

He has made more than 10 hire the last thirty minutes - not to go over the match but to keep modifying his bet.

Five minutes previously his cash was on Australia, but now as the Indian batsman gets prepared to deal with the last over he's altered his mind.

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

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

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

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

Besides horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed in India. Despite that, unlawful sports betting syndicates prosper in the nation.

'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 money is directed towards cricket.

Without any legal avenue, punters position bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can wager on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the highest individual run scorer.

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

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any type of gaming in India, but unlike in the US which has a law restricting web gaming, there is absolutely nothing similar here.

And overseas wagering business are utilizing this loophole to lure Indians. Although there are no online sports betting 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 unclear for online sports betting," states Mumbai- based lawyer HP Ranina.

But in spite of this, it is "offline sports betting", done through phone calls which dominate the market.

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, saying it would help clamp down on corruption in the nation's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest changes 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 actually been banned for two years after some gamers and group officials were found guilty of fixing parts of the match at the behest of bookies.

The panel likewise argues that legalised wagering will bring in tax earnings for the exchequer that could amount to $2bn a year.

Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a relocation in the right instructions.

"I do not mind paying some money out my earnings, as long as I can gamble openly," says our cricket gambler.

It would likewise open a huge organization opportunity for certified bookies and international online sports betting business to set up operations in India.

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

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

But lots of also think, that the taxes imposed on the bettor and the bookmaker will need to be sensible to make it appealing enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be illegal sports betting due to the fact that (some) people would not wish to leave an audit path by getting in the white market," states Mr Oborne.

He includes that people who utilize unaccounted money to place huge bets will never ever gamble legally.

Approval question

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

"Despite the fact that numerous people are included in some sort of sports betting - it's still a questionable problem for many," says our unnamed punter.

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will need to likewise pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their territory.

"The process is so long and tricky that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this becoming a reality anytime soon."

Yet with the idea having actually been backed by a main panel for the very first time, at least a dispute has sparked around a topic - which until now was thought about a taboo.