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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 versus Australia.
In his two-bedroom home situated in central Mumbai, a middle-aged male is seeing the game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his cellphone glued to his ideal hand.
He has made more than 10 employ the last thirty minutes - not to go over the match but to keep modifying his bet.
Five minutes earlier his cash was on Australia, now as the Indian batsman gets all set to face the last over he's changed his mind.
"I believe India is winning, make the change," he tells 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 actually made $200 today," he states with a childish glee.
For more than three decades he's been banking on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is illegal in India.
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Other than horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not permitted in India. Despite that, unlawful sports betting syndicates flourish in the country.
'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.
With no legal opportunity, punters put bets using their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bank on anything related 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 cash not declared to the taxman.
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The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any kind of sports betting in India, but unlike in the US which has a law restricting web gaming, there is nothing similar here.
And offshore sports betting companies are utilizing this loophole to entice Indians. Although there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot people have actually signed up accounts with offshore companies.
"Legally you can get away [with this], as the law is ambiguous for online gambling," says Mumbai- based lawyer HP Ranina.
But regardless of this, it is "offline gambling", done through telephone call which dominate the market.
Require 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 clamp down on corruption in the nation's preferred sport.
The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest changes 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 came to light.
Two franchises have actually been banned for two years after some players and group officials were condemned of repairing parts of the match at the behest of bookies.
The panel likewise argues that legalised wagering will bring in tax profits for the exchequer that could total up to $2bn a year.
Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a move in the ideal direction.
"I do not mind paying some cash out my earnings, as long as I can gamble publicly," states our cricket bettor.
It would likewise open a substantial company for certified bookmakers and global online sports betting business to establish 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.
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"If you work together with wagering business, you will have an extremely efficient approach of marking out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.
But numerous also think, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookie will have to be reasonable to make it attractive enough for them to bet lawfully.
However, there are constraints.
"Definitely there will be unlawful wagering due to the fact that (some) individuals wouldn't wish to leave an audit trail by getting in the white market," states Mr Oborne.
He includes that individuals who utilize unaccounted cash to place big bets will never bet lawfully.
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Approval question
For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to create a brand-new law, and politically this will be a difficult idea to sell.
"Despite the fact that lots of people are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable problem for numerous," says our unnamed punter.
And given 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 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 idea having actually been backed by a main panel for the very first time, at least a debate has actually sparked around a topic - which up until now was considered a taboo.
This will delete the page "For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised"
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