For Sports Gambling To Be Legalised

bet9ja.com
Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India


Published
bet9ja.com

5 February 2016


Share


close panel


Share page


Copy link


About sharing


By Sameer Hashmi


Mumbai Business reporter


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


In his two-bedroom house located in main Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is viewing the game, nervously. He's resting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his mobile phone glued to his ideal hand.


He has made more than 10 contact the last 30 minutes - not to discuss the match however to keep modifying his bet.


Five minutes previously his cash was on Australia, today as the Indian batsman gets prepared to face the last over he's altered 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 prediction becomes a reality, as India wins the match in a nail-biting surface.


"I have made $200 today," he says with a childlike glee.
bet9ja.com

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.


Aside from horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, prohibited wagering distributes flourish in the country.


'Black cash'


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


Without any legal avenue, punters place bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bank on anything associated 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 money not declared to the taxman.


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


And offshore wagering companies are utilizing this loophole to . Even though there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot people have actually signed up accounts with offshore companies.


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


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


Calls for 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 assist secure 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 came to light.


Two franchises have actually been banned for two years after some players and group officials were found guilty of fixing parts of the match at the behest of bookmakers.


The panel also argues that legalised sports betting will generate tax revenues for the exchequer that could total up to $2bn a year.


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


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


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


And it would assist restrict match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue many, by helping make deals included in sports betting more transparent.


"If you work along with wagering business, you will have a very efficient method of stamping out match repairing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.


But many also believe, that the taxes imposed on the bettor and the bookmaker will have to be reasonable to make it attractive enough for them to gamble legally.


However, there are limitations.


"Definitely there will be illegal wagering due to the fact that (some) individuals would not desire to leave an audit path by entering the white market," states Mr Oborne.


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


Approval question


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


"Despite the fact that lots of people are associated with some sort of gambling - it's still a questionable concern for numerous," states our unnamed punter.


And provided that India has a federal structural - each state will have to likewise pass a separate law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.
bet9ja.com

"The process is so long and difficult that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this coming true anytime soon."


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