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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting wagering 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 needing 17 runs to win against Australia.

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

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 earlier his cash was on Australia, now as the Indian batsman gets ready 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.

And a couple of minutes later his prediction comes true, as India wins the match in a nail-biting surface.

"I have actually made $200 today," he states with a childlike glee.

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

Other than horse racing, sports betting wagering of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, illegal sports betting syndicates prosper in the country.

'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 gambling money is directed towards cricket.

Without any legal avenue, punters position bets using their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can wager on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest individual run scorer.

The majority of these deals involve so-called "black money", which is cash not declared to the taxman.

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

And overseas wagering companies are utilizing this loophole to lure Indians. Although there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot people have signed up accounts with offshore companies.

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

But regardless of this, it is "offline gambling", done through call which control the market.

Calls for legalisation

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

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest changes in the performance of India's cricket regulative 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 been banned for two years after some gamers and team officials were condemned of fixing parts of the match at the behest of bookmakers.

The panel also argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax incomes for the exchequer that might total up to $2bn a year.

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

"I do not mind paying some cash out my earnings, as long as I can gamble publicly," states our cricket bettor.

It would likewise open a substantial company chance for licensed bookmakers and worldwide online sports betting business to establish operations in India.

And it would help limit match fixing in and other sports betting, argue many, by helping make deals included in sports betting more transparent.

"If you work along with wagering business, you will have a really reliable approach of marking out match fixing," says George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.

But many likewise think, that the taxes imposed on the bettor and the bookmaker will need to be sensible to make it appealing enough for them to gamble legally.

However, there are restrictions.

"Definitely there will be unlawful sports betting because (some) individuals wouldn't wish to leave an audit path by going into the white market," states Mr Oborne.

He adds that individuals who use unaccounted money to place big bets will never gamble lawfully.

Approval question

For sports betting gambling to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to produce a new law, and politically this will be a hard idea to offer.

"Even though many individuals are associated with some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable issue for many," says our unnamed punter.

And provided that India has a federal structural - each state will need to also pass a separate law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.
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"The process is so long and tricky that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are negative about this coming true anytime quickly."

Yet with the idea having actually been endorsed by a main panel for the very first time, at least a dispute has actually sparked around a topic - which previously was considered a taboo.
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