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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 reporter

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

In his two-bedroom home situated in main Mumbai, a middle-aged male is seeing the video game, nervously. He's resting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his smart phone glued to his right hand.

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

Five minutes earlier his cash was on Australia, and now as the Indian batsman gets all set to deal with the last over he's altered his mind.

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

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

"I have made $200 today," he states with a childish 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 prohibited in India.

Besides horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, prohibited wagering distributes grow in the nation.

'Black money'

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

Without any legal opportunity, punters position bets using their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bank 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 cash", which is money not stated to the taxman.

The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any kind of gaming in India, but unlike in the US which has a web sports betting, there is nothing similar here.

And overseas sports betting companies are using this loophole to lure Indians. Although there are no online sports betting operators based out of India, a lot individuals have registered accounts with overseas companies.

"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is unclear for online gaming," says Mumbai- based legal representative HP Ranina.

But regardless of this, it is "offline sports betting", done through call which dominate the marketplace.

Calls for legalisation

The clamour to legalise wagering in cricket has grown after a panel appointed by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, stating it would help clamp down on corruption in the nation's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to recommend 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 emerged.

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

The panel likewise argues that legalised sports betting will generate tax incomes for the exchequer that might amount to $2bn a year.

Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting is a move in the ideal instructions.

"I do not mind paying some money out my profits, as long as I can bet publicly," says our cricket gambler.

It would likewise open a huge service chance for licensed bookies and international online sports betting business to establish operations in India.

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

"If you work alongside sports betting business, you will have a very reliable technique of marking out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering site, India Bet.

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

However, there are restrictions.

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

He includes that individuals who utilize unaccounted money to position big bets will never ever gamble lawfully.

Approval concern

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

"Even though many individuals are involved in some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable problem for many," states our unnamed punter.

And offered that India has a federal structural - each state will have to also pass a separate law to legalise sports betting in their area.
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"The procedure is so long and difficult that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this becoming a truth anytime quickly."

Yet with the idea having been backed by a main panel for the first time, a minimum of a debate has actually sparked around a subject - which till now was thought about a taboo.
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