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.
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In his two-bedroom home located in main Mumbai, a middle-aged male is watching the video game, nervously. He's resting 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 discuss the match however to keep revising his bet.
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Five minutes earlier his cash was on Australia, now as the Indian batsman prepares to deal with the last over he's changed his mind.

"I believe India is winning, make the modification," 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 childish glee.

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

Besides horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, unlawful wagering syndicates thrive in the country.

'Black money'

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

Without any legal opportunity, punters place bets using their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can wager on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest individual run scorer.

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

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

And overseas sports betting companies are using this loophole to draw Indians. Despite the fact that there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot people have registered accounts with overseas firms.

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

But regardless of this, it is "offline gambling", done through phone calls which dominate the marketplace.

Require legalisation

The clamour to legalise wagering 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 nation's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to recommend changes in the performance 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 players and group authorities were of repairing parts of the match at the request of bookmakers.

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

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

"I don't mind paying some money out my earnings, as long as I can gamble publicly," says our cricket gambler.
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It would likewise open a substantial business opportunity for licensed bookmakers and international 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 associated with gambling more transparent.

"If you work along with sports betting business, you will have an extremely reliable technique of marking out match fixing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

But numerous likewise think, that the taxes imposed on the bettor and the bookmaker will need to be reasonable to make it appealing enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are restrictions.

"Definitely there will be prohibited wagering because (some) people wouldn't want to leave an audit path by entering the white market," says Mr Oborne.

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

Approval question

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

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

And provided that India has a federal structural - each state will need to likewise pass a separate law to legalise sports betting in their territory.

"The process is so long and challenging that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this becoming a reality anytime quickly."

Yet with the idea having actually been backed by a main panel for the very first time, at least a debate has actually sparked around a subject - which until now was thought about a taboo.