For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised

Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering 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 needing 17 go to win against Australia.

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

He has made more than 10 contact the last 30 minutes – not to discuss the match however to keep modifying his bet.

Five minutes previously his money was on Australia, but now as the Indian batsman gets ready to face the last over he’s changed his mind.

“I think 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 made $200 today,” he states with a glee.

For more than 3 decades he’s been sports betting on cricket matches. We can’t reveal his name as what he’s doing is illegal in India.

Aside from horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, prohibited wagering syndicates grow in the country.

‘Black cash’

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

With no legal opportunity, punters position bets using their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can wager on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest private run scorer.

The majority of these deals include so-called “black money”, which is cash not stated to the taxman.

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

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

“Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is unclear for online gaming,” states Mumbai- based attorney HP Ranina.

But in spite of this, it is “offline gambling”, done through telephone call which control the market.

Calls for legalisation

The clamour to legalise sports betting in cricket has grown after a panel selected by India’s Supreme Court proposed the concept, stating it would assist clamp down on corruption in the country’s favourite sport.

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

Two franchises have been banned for two years after some gamers and team officials were discovered guilty of repairing parts of the match at the request of bookmakers.

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

Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a relocation in the ideal direction.

“I don’t mind paying some money out my revenues, as long as I can bet publicly,” says our cricket gambler.

It would also open a huge organization chance for licensed bookmakers and international online wagering companies to set up operations in India.

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

“If you work alongside sports betting companies, you will have a really effective approach of marking out match fixing,” says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

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

However, there are restrictions.

“Definitely there will be illegal wagering because (some) people would not wish to leave an audit path by entering the white market,” says Mr Oborne.

He includes that people who use unaccounted cash to position huge bets will never ever bet legally.

Approval concern

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

“Although lots of people are associated with some sort of sports betting – it’s still a questionable issue for many,” states our unnamed punter.

And given that India has a federal structural – each state will have to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their territory.

“The process is so long and tricky that it will take years,” states Mr Ranina.”That’s why, we are negative about this coming true anytime soon.”

Yet with the idea having been backed by an official panel for the very first time, at least a debate has fired up around a topic – which previously was thought about a taboo.