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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering in India

5 February 2016

By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business reporter

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

In his two-bedroom home 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 mobile phone glued to his right-hand man.

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

Five minutes earlier his money was on Australia, today as the Indian batsman gets prepared to deal with the last over he's changed his mind.
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"I believe India is winning, make the modification," he informs his bookie 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 states with a childish glee.

For more than three decades he's been banking 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, illegal wagering distributes prosper in the country.

'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 cash is directed towards cricket.

With no legal opportunity, punters position bets using their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bet on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest individual run scorer.

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

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

And overseas sports betting business are using this loophole to entice Indians. Although there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot people have actually signed up accounts with overseas companies.

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

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

Require legalisation

The clamour to legalise sports betting in cricket has actually grown after a panel selected by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, stating it would help clamp down on corruption in the nation's favourite sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to suggest modifications in the performance of India's cricket regulatory body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after the 2013 Indian Premier League wagering scandal came to light.

Two franchises have been banned for two years after some gamers and group officials were discovered guilty of fixing parts of the match at the wish of bookmakers.

The panel likewise argues that legalised wagering will generate tax revenues for the exchequer that could amount to $2bn a year.

Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a move in the ideal instructions.

"I don't mind paying some money out my earnings, as long as I can bet publicly," states our cricket gambler.

It would also open a huge business chance for certified bookmakers and international online sports betting business to establish operations in India.

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

"If you work together with sports betting companies, you will have a really effective technique of marking out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock sports betting website, India Bet.
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But many also believe, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookie will need to be sensible to make it appealing enough for them to bet legally.

However, there are restrictions.

"Definitely there will be unlawful wagering since (some) people would not desire to leave an audit path by going into the white market," states Mr Oborne.

He includes that individuals who utilize unaccounted cash to put big bets will never ever bet legally.

Approval concern

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

"Although many individuals are included in some sort of gambling - it's still a controversial concern for many," says our unnamed punter.

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to likewise pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their territory.
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"The process is so long and challenging that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this ending up being a truth anytime soon."

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