Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering in India
bet9ja.com
5 February 2016
bet9ja.com
By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business reporter

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I have actually 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 prohibited in India.

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

'Black cash'

According to the Doha-based International Centre for sports betting Security, India's illegal 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 place 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 specific run scorer.

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

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any sort of gambling in India, however unlike in the US which has a law prohibiting internet gambling, there is nothing similar here.

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

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

But in spite 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 grown after a panel designated by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, stating it would help secure down on corruption in the nation's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to suggest 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 came to light.

Two franchises have been banned for 2 years after some players and group authorities were condemned of repairing parts of the match at the request of bookmakers.

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

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

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

It would likewise open a huge company chance for licensed bookies and global online wagering companies to establish operations in India.

And it would help limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue lots of, by helping make transactions involved in gambling more transparent.

"If you work along with sports betting companies, you will have a very efficient method of marking out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

But many also think, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookmaker will have to be reasonable to make it appealing enough for them to bet lawfully.

However, there are constraints.

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

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

Approval question

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be required to a new law, and politically this will be a difficult idea to sell.

"Even however lots of people are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a controversial issue for numerous," says our unnamed punter.

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to likewise pass a separate law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.
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"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 concept having actually been backed by a main panel for the very first time, at least an argument has actually fired up around a subject - which previously was thought about a taboo.
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