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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering in India
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Published
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 home located in main Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is seeing the video game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his smart phone glued to his right-hand man.
He has actually made more than 10 contact the last thirty minutes - not to discuss the match but to keep revising his bet.
Five minutes earlier his cash was on Australia, but now as the Indian batsman gets prepared to deal with the last over he's changed his mind.
"I believe India is winning, make the modification," he tells his bookmaker on the phone.
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And a few minutes later his forecast becomes a reality, as India wins the match in a nail-biting finish.
"I have made $200 today," he states with a childlike glee.
For more than three 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 India. Despite that, prohibited wagering distributes grow 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 sports betting money is directed towards cricket.
With no legal opportunity, punters put bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bank on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the highest individual run scorer.
The of these deals include so-called "black money", which is cash not declared 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 forbiding web gambling, there is absolutely nothing similar here.
And overseas sports betting companies are utilizing this loophole to draw Indians. Although there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot individuals have actually registered accounts with offshore companies.
"Legally you can get away [with this], as the law is ambiguous for online gambling," states Mumbai- based lawyer HP Ranina.
But regardless of this, it is "offline gaming", done through phone calls which control the market.
Calls for legalisation
The clamour to legalise sports betting in cricket has actually grown after a panel designated by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, saying it would help clamp down on corruption in the country'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 sports betting scandal came to light.
Two franchises have actually been prohibited for 2 years after some players and team officials were condemned of repairing parts of the match at the behest of bookies.
The panel also argues that legalised wagering will generate tax earnings for the exchequer that might total up to $2bn a year.
Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting wagering is a relocation in the ideal instructions.
"I don't mind paying some cash out my profits, as long as I can gamble publicly," states our cricket gambler.
It would also open a big business opportunity for licensed bookies and worldwide online sports betting business to establish operations in India.
And it would help limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue many, by assisting make transactions involved in gambling more transparent.
"If you work together with sports betting companies, you will have a very reliable technique of stamping out match repairing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.
But numerous also believe, that the taxes imposed on the gambler and the bookmaker will need to be sensible to make it attractive enough for them to bet legally.
However, there are constraints.
"Definitely there will be illegal wagering due to the fact that (some) individuals wouldn't wish to leave an audit trail by entering the white market," says Mr Oborne.
He includes that people who use unaccounted money to position big bets will never gamble legally.
Approval concern
For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be required to create a new law, and politically this will be a difficult concept to sell.
"Even however lots of people are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a controversial issue for numerous," states our unnamed punter.
And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will need to likewise pass a separate law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.
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"The process is so long and challenging that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this coming true anytime quickly."
Yet with the concept having actually been backed by an official panel for the very first time, a minimum of a debate has actually fired up around a subject - which till now was considered a taboo.
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For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised
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