bet9ja.com
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 press reporter
bit.ly
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 central Mumbai, a middle-aged man is seeing the game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his smart phone glued to his right-hand man.

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

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

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

And a couple of minutes later on his prediction comes to life, as India wins the match in a nail-biting finish.

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

Other than horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, prohibited wagering distributes grow in the nation.

'Black money'

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

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

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

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

And overseas wagering business are using 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 firms.

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

But regardless of this, it is "offline sports betting", done through telephone call which control the market.

Require legalisation

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

Two franchises have actually been prohibited for two years after some players and team officials were condemned of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookies.

The panel likewise argues that legalised wagering will generate tax revenues for the exchequer that could amount to $2bn a year.
bit.ly
Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a move in the best direction.

"I do not mind paying some money out my revenues, as long as I can gamble publicly," says our cricket gambler.

It would likewise open a big business opportunity for certified bookmakers and international online sports betting business to set up operations in India.

And it would assist restrict match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by helping make transactions associated with gambling more transparent.

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

But lots of also believe, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookie will have to be affordable to make it appealing enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be unlawful wagering since (some) individuals would not wish to leave an audit trail by getting in the white market," says Mr Oborne.

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

Approval question

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to develop a new law, and politically this will be a hard idea to offer.
bet9ja.com
"Even however lots of individuals are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a controversial concern for lots of," states our .

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

"The procedure is so long and difficult that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this ending up being a reality anytime quickly."

Yet with the concept having actually been endorsed by a main panel for the first time, at least a debate has actually ignited around a topic - which previously was thought about a taboo.