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 against Australia.

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

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

Five minutes previously his money was on Australia, now as the Indian batsman gets prepared to face 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 couple of minutes later his prediction comes to life, as India wins the match in a nail-biting surface.

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

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

Other than horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, unlawful wagering distributes prosper in the country.

'Black cash'

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

Without any legal avenue, punters place bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bank on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest specific run scorer.

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

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

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

"Legally you can get away [with this], as the law is unclear for online gaming," says Mumbai- based attorney HP Ranina.

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

Calls for legalisation

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

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to recommend 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 wagering scandal emerged.

Two franchises have actually been prohibited for two years after some gamers and group officials were found guilty of repairing parts of the match at the behest of bookmakers.

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

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

"I do not mind paying some cash out my profits, as long as I can bet publicly," states our cricket bettor.

It would likewise open a huge service opportunity for licensed bookmakers and international online wagering business to establish operations in India.

And it would assist restrict match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by helping make transactions associated with sports betting more transparent.

"If you work together with wagering companies, you will have a very effective technique of stamping out match repairing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

But many also believe, that the taxes imposed on the bettor and the bookmaker will need to be sensible to make it appealing enough for them to bet 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," says Mr Oborne.

He includes that people who utilize unaccounted money to put huge 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 tough concept to offer.

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

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will have 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 negative about this coming true anytime quickly."

Yet with the idea having been backed by an official panel for the first time, at least an argument has fired up around a topic - which previously was considered a taboo.