For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised
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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India

Published

5 February 2016

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By Sameer Hashmi
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reporter

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

In his two-bedroom house located in main Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is enjoying the video game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his mobile phone glued to his right-hand man.

He has actually made more than 10 calls in the last thirty minutes - not to talk about the match but to keep modifying his bet.

Five minutes earlier his money was on Australia, now as the Indian batsman gets ready to face the last over he's altered his mind.

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

And a couple of minutes later his prediction becomes a reality, as India wins the match in a nail-biting finish.

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

For more than 3 years he's been wagering on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is illegal in India.

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

'Black cash'

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

Without any legal opportunity, punters put bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bet on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the highest private run scorer.

The majority of these deals involve so-called "black cash", which is cash not stated to the taxman.
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The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any type of gaming in India, but unlike in the US which has a law prohibiting web gaming, there is nothing similar here.

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

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

But in spite of this, it is "offline gaming", done through call which control the market.

Require legalisation

The clamour to legalise wagering in cricket has actually grown after a panel appointed by India's Supreme Court proposed the concept, stating it would help secure down on corruption in the country's preferred sport.
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The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to recommend modifications in the performance 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.

Two franchises have been banned for two years after some gamers and team officials were condemned of repairing parts of the match at the behest of bookies.

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

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

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

It would also open a big organization chance for licensed bookmakers and international online sports betting business to establish operations in India.

And it would help limit match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue lots of, by helping make deals associated with gambling more transparent.
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"If you work alongside sports betting companies, you will have an extremely efficient technique of stamping out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock sports betting website, India Bet.

But numerous also think, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookie will have to be reasonable to make it attractive enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be illegal wagering because (some) people wouldn't wish to leave an audit trail by going into the white market," says Mr Oborne.

He includes that individuals 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 required to create a new law, and politically this will be a difficult idea to offer.

"Although many individuals are included in some sort of gambling - it's still a questionable problem for many," states our unnamed punter.
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And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a separate law to legalise sports betting in their area.

"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 truth anytime quickly."

Yet with the idea having actually been endorsed by an official panel for the first time, at least a dispute has sparked around a subject - which previously was thought about a taboo.