For Sports Gambling To Be Legalised
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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering 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 against Australia.
In his two-bedroom home situated in central 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 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, and now as the Indian batsman prepares yourself to face the last over he's changed his mind.
"I think India is winning, make the change," he informs his bookie on the phone.
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And a couple of minutes later on his prediction comes true, as India wins the match in a nail-biting surface.
"I have actually made $200 today," he says with a childish glee.
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For more than 3 years he's been banking on cricket matches. We can't reveal his name as what he's doing is prohibited in India.
Other than horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed in India. Despite that, unlawful sports betting 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 is worth some $150bn a year. And much of that sports betting cash is directed towards cricket.
Without any legal avenue, punters put 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 individual run scorer.
Most of these transactions involve so-called "black cash", which is cash not stated to the taxman.
The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any type of gaming in India, but unlike in the US which has a law prohibiting internet gambling, there is absolutely nothing similar here.
And overseas sports betting companies are utilizing this loophole to draw Indians. Even though there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot individuals have registered accounts with offshore companies.
"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is uncertain for online gaming," says Mumbai- based legal representative HP Ranina.
But despite this, it is "offline sports betting", done through phone calls which control the market.
Require legalisation
The clamour to legalise sports betting in cricket has grown after a panel appointed by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, stating it would help secure down on corruption in the country's favourite sport.
The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to recommend 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 been prohibited for 2 years after some gamers and group authorities were condemned of repairing parts of the match at the wish of bookies.
The panel also argues that legalised sports betting will generate tax earnings for the exchequer that might amount to $2bn a year.
Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a relocation in the right direction.
"I do not mind paying some cash out my earnings, as long as I can bet openly," states our cricket gambler.
It would likewise open a substantial organization opportunity for licensed bookmakers and international online sports betting companies to establish operations in India.
And it would assist limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by helping make transactions included in gambling more transparent.
"If you work along with wagering companies, you will have a very effective technique of marking out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.
But lots of likewise think, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookmaker will have to be affordable to make it attractive enough for them to bet lawfully.
However, there are .
"Definitely there will be unlawful wagering because (some) people wouldn't wish to leave an audit trail by getting in the white market," says Mr Oborne.
He includes that people who use unaccounted money to put huge bets will never gamble lawfully.
Approval concern
For sports betting gambling to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be required to develop a new law, and politically this will be a difficult concept to sell.
"Despite the fact that numerous people are included in some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable problem for numerous," says our unnamed punter.
And offered that India has a federal structural - each state will need to likewise pass a separate law to legalise sports betting in their area.
"The procedure is so long and challenging 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 very first time, at least a debate has sparked around a subject - which up until now was considered a taboo.