Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India

Published
bet9ja.com
5 February 2016

Share
bet9ja.com
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 go to win versus Australia.
bet9ja.com
In his two-bedroom house located in central Mumbai, a middle-aged male is viewing the game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his cellphone glued to his right-hand man.
bet9ja.com
He has made more than 10 hire the last 30 minutes - not to talk about the match however to keep revising his bet.

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

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

And a few minutes later on his prediction comes to life, as India wins the match in a nail-biting finish.

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

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

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

'Black cash'

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

With no legal avenue, punters place bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bet on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest individual run scorer.

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

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

And overseas sports betting business are utilizing this loophole to lure Indians. Despite the fact that there are no online based out of India, a lot people have registered accounts with overseas firms.

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

But regardless of this, it is "offline gaming", done through phone calls which control the market.
bet9ja.com
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 secure down on corruption in the country's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to suggest modifications in the functioning of India's cricket regulative body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after the 2013 Indian Premier League wagering scandal came to light.
bet9ja.com
Two franchises have been banned for two years after some players and group officials were condemned of repairing parts of the match at the request of bookies.

The panel likewise argues that legalised wagering will generate tax revenues for the exchequer that might total up to $2bn a year.

Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting is a relocation in the best direction.

"I don't mind paying some money out my earnings, as long as I can bet openly," says our cricket gambler.

It would likewise open a huge organization chance for licensed bookmakers and worldwide online sports betting companies to establish operations in India.

And it would assist limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue lots of, by assisting make transactions associated with sports betting more transparent.

"If you work alongside wagering companies, you will have an extremely reliable approach of stamping out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

But many also think, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookmaker will need to be sensible to make it attractive enough for them to gamble legally.

However, there are restrictions.

"Definitely there will be unlawful sports betting due to the fact that (some) individuals wouldn't desire to leave an audit path by going into the white market," says Mr Oborne.

He includes that people who use unaccounted money to place huge bets will never bet lawfully.

Approval concern

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

"Although lots of individuals are included in some sort of gambling - it's still a questionable issue for lots of," says our unnamed punter.

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

"The procedure is so long and challenging that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this ending up being a truth anytime soon."

Yet with the concept having actually been backed by an official panel for the very first time, at least a dispute has sparked around a topic - which previously was considered a taboo.