Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India

Published

5 February 2016

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By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business reporter

It is the last over of the cricket match, with India requiring 17 go to win versus Australia.

In his two-bedroom home located in central Mumbai, a middle-aged man is seeing the video game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his smart phone glued to his best hand.

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

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

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

And a couple of minutes later on his prediction comes true, 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 3 years he's been banking on cricket matches. We can't reveal his name as what he's doing is illegal in India.

Aside from horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, prohibited sports betting distributes thrive in the nation.

'Black money'

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.

Without any legal opportunity, punters put 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 private run scorer.

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

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

And offshore wagering business are using this loophole to tempt Indians. Even though there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot individuals have signed up accounts with offshore firms.

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

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

Calls for legalisation

The clamour to legalise wagering in cricket has grown after a panel selected by India's Supreme Court proposed the concept, 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 wagering scandal emerged.

Two franchises have been banned for two years after some gamers and group authorities were discovered guilty of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookies.

The panel also argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax incomes for the exchequer that could total up to $2bn a year.

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

"I don't mind paying some cash out my earnings, as long as I can gamble publicly," states our cricket gambler.

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

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

"If you work together with sports betting companies, you will have an extremely reliable technique of stamping out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock sports betting website, India Bet.

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

However, there are restrictions.

"Definitely there will be prohibited wagering since (some) individuals would not wish to leave an audit path by entering the white market," says Mr Oborne.

He adds that individuals who use unaccounted cash to position huge bets will never ever gamble legally.

Approval concern

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

"Even however lots of people are associated with some sort of sports betting - it's still a questionable concern for numerous," states our unnamed punter.

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a separate law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.

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

Yet with the concept having actually been endorsed by a main panel for the very first time, at least an argument has ignited around a subject - which until now was thought about a taboo.