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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India

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bet9ja.com
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.

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

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

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 informs his bookmaker on the phone.

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

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

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

Besides horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed in India. Despite that, prohibited sports betting distributes grow 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 cash is directed towards cricket.

With no legal avenue, punters put bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can wager on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the highest individual run scorer.

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

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

And offshore sports betting business are utilizing this loophole to entice Indians. Even though there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot people have actually signed up accounts with overseas firms.

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

But in spite of this, it is "offline sports betting", 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, saying it would help clamp down on corruption in the nation's favourite sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to 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 prohibited for 2 years after some players and group officials were discovered guilty of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookmakers.

The panel likewise argues that legalised wagering will bring in tax earnings for the exchequer that could total up to $2bn a year.

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

"I do not mind paying some money out my profits, as long as I can gamble publicly," states our cricket bettor.

It would likewise open a big company opportunity for certified bookmakers and international online wagering business to establish operations in India.

And it would help restrict match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by helping make deals involved in gambling more transparent.

"If you work along with sports betting companies, you will have a very effective technique of stamping out match repairing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock sports betting website, India Bet.

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

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be illegal wagering since (some) people would not wish to leave an audit path by getting in the white market," states Mr Oborne.

He adds that people who use unaccounted cash to position big bets will never gamble lawfully.

Approval concern

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to develop a new law, and politically this will be a difficult concept to sell.

"Although many individuals are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable concern for lots of," says our unnamed punter.

And offered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting in their area.
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"The procedure is so long and tricky that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this coming true anytime quickly."

Yet with the idea having actually been endorsed by a main panel for the very first time, at least an argument has actually fired up around a subject - which till now was thought about a taboo.
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