Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India

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5 February 2016

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By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business press reporter

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

In his two-bedroom house situated in central Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is viewing the video game, nervously. He's resting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his smart phone glued to his right-hand man.

He has made more than 10 employ the last thirty minutes - not to go over the match but to keep revising his bet.

Five minutes earlier his money was on Australia, and now as the Indian batsman prepares to face the last over he's altered his mind.

"I believe India is winning, make the modification," he informs his bookie on the phone.

And a few minutes later his forecast becomes a reality, as India wins the match in a nail-biting surface.
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"I have actually made $200 today," he says with a childlike glee.

For more than 3 decades he's been banking on cricket matches. We can't reveal his name as what he's doing is unlawful in India.

Aside from horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, unlawful wagering distributes prosper in the nation.

'Black cash'

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

Without any legal opportunity, punters position bets using their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bank on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the highest specific run scorer.

Most of these deals include so-called "black cash", which is money not declared to the taxman.

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

And offshore sports betting 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 escape [with this], as the law is unclear for online gambling," states Mumbai- based legal representative HP Ranina.

But despite this, it is "offline gambling", done through phone calls which dominate the market.

Calls for legalisation

The clamour to legalise sports betting in cricket has grown after a panel selected by India's Supreme Court proposed the concept, saying it would help secure 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 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 actually been banned for two years after some players and team authorities were discovered guilty of fixing parts of the match at the request of bookies.

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

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

"I do not mind paying some cash out my earnings, as long as I can gamble openly," says our cricket gambler.
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It would likewise open a huge service opportunity for certified bookmakers and international online wagering business to set up operations in India.

And it would help restrict match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue lots of, by helping make transactions included in gambling more transparent.

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

But many likewise believe, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookie will have to be sensible to make it attractive enough for them to gamble legally.

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be prohibited sports betting because (some) people wouldn't want to leave an audit trail by going into the white market," says Mr Oborne.
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He adds that people who utilize unaccounted cash to put huge bets will never ever bet lawfully.

Approval concern

For sports betting gambling to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to produce a brand-new law, and politically this will be a difficult idea to sell.

"Although lots of people are associated with some sort of sports betting - it's still a controversial problem for numerous," says our unnamed punter.

And given that India has a federal structural - each state will need to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting in their territory.
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"The process is so long and tricky that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this coming true anytime soon."

Yet with the idea having been by a main panel for the very first time, a minimum of an argument has ignited around a subject - which until now was considered a taboo.
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