Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering in India

Published

5 February 2016

Share

close panel

Share page

Copy link

About sharing

By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business reporter

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

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

He has made more than 10 employ the last 30 minutes - not to talk about the match but to keep revising his bet.

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

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

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

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

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

Besides horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, illegal sports betting distributes grow in the country.

'Black money'

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

Without any legal avenue, punters place bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bet on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest individual run scorer.

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

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

And overseas wagering companies are using this loophole to draw Indians. Although there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot individuals have actually signed up accounts with offshore firms.

"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is ambiguous for online gaming," states Mumbai- based lawyer HP Ranina.

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

Calls for legalisation

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

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up 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 sports betting scandal emerged.

Two franchises have actually been prohibited for 2 years after some players and group authorities were found guilty of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookies.

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

Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a relocation in the best instructions.

"I don't mind paying some cash out my revenues, as long as I can bet publicly," says our cricket bettor.

It would also open a huge organization opportunity for certified bookmakers and global online wagering 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 transactions involved in gambling more transparent.

"If you work together with wagering business, you will have a really reliable approach of marking out match fixing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.

But many also believe, that the taxes levied on the bettor and the bookie will have to be sensible to make it appealing enough for them to bet legally.

However, there are restrictions.

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

He adds that people who utilize unaccounted cash to place huge bets will never gamble lawfully.

Approval concern

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to produce a brand-new law, and politically this will be a tough concept to sell.

"Despite the fact that lots of people are included in some sort of gambling - it's still a questionable issue for numerous," states our unnamed punter.

And offered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to likewise pass a separate law to legalise sports betting gambling 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 coming true anytime soon."

Yet with the idea having been backed by a main panel for the very first time, a minimum of an argument has actually sparked around a topic - which previously was considered a taboo.