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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 situated in central Mumbai, a middle-aged man is watching the video game, nervously. He's sitting on the edge of his grey colour sofa with his cellphone glued to his best hand.

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

Five minutes previously his money was on Australia, now as the Indian batsman prepares to deal with the last over he's altered his mind.

"I think India is winning, make the modification," he tells his bookmaker 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 actually made $200 today," he says with a childlike glee.

For more than 3 years he's been sports betting on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is prohibited in India.
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Besides horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed in India. Despite that, unlawful sports betting syndicates flourish in the nation.

'Black money'

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

With no legal avenue, punters put 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 greatest individual run scorer.

The majority of these deals include so-called "black money", which is money not stated to the taxman.

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

And overseas sports betting business are using this loophole to entice Indians. Although there are no online based out of India, a lot individuals have actually registered accounts with offshore firms.

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

But regardless of this, it is "offline gaming", done through phone calls which control the market.
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Require legalisation

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

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to recommend modifications in the functioning 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 prohibited for 2 years after some players and team authorities were condemned of fixing parts of the match at the behest of bookmakers.
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The panel also argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax profits for the exchequer that could total up to $2bn a year.

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

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

It would also open a big service opportunity for certified bookies and global online sports betting companies to set up operations in India.

And it would assist limit match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by assisting make transactions associated with sports betting more transparent.

"If you work alongside wagering business, you will have an extremely reliable approach of marking out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.

But numerous also think, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookmaker will need to be affordable to make it appealing enough for them to bet legally.

However, there are constraints.

"Definitely there will be illegal sports betting because (some) individuals would not wish to leave an audit trail by going into the white market," states Mr Oborne.

He adds that individuals who utilize unaccounted money to put huge bets will never bet lawfully.

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

"Despite the fact that many individuals are involved in some sort of gambling - it's still a controversial problem for numerous," states our unnamed punter.

And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will need to also pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.

"The procedure is so long and challenging that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this becoming a truth anytime quickly."

Yet with the concept having actually been backed by an official panel for the very first time, a minimum of an argument has sparked around a topic - which up until now was considered a taboo.