1 For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised
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Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India
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5 February 2016

By Sameer Hashmi

Mumbai Business press reporter

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

In his two-bedroom house situated in main Mumbai, a middle-aged male is viewing the game, nervously. He's resting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his cellphone glued to his ideal hand.

He has made more than 10 hire the last 30 minutes - not to go over the match however to keep modifying his bet.

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

"I believe India is winning, make the change," he tells his bookmaker on the phone.

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

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

For more than three years he's been wagering on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is prohibited in India.

Besides horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not enabled in India. Despite that, prohibited wagering syndicates prosper in the country.

'Black cash'

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

With no legal avenue, punters position bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bet on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest individual run scorer.

Most of these transactions include so-called "black cash", which is money not stated 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 prohibiting internet sports betting, there is nothing comparable here.

And offshore wagering companies are utilizing this loophole to tempt Indians. Even though there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot individuals have actually signed up accounts with overseas companies.

"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is uncertain for online gambling," states based legal representative HP Ranina.

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

Calls for legalisation
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The clamour to legalise wagering in cricket has grown after a panel selected by India's Supreme Court proposed the concept, stating it would assist clamp down on corruption in the country's preferred sport.

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established to suggest 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 actually been banned for 2 years after some players and team officials were found guilty of repairing parts of the match at the wish of bookmakers.

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

Even gamblers feel that legalising sports betting is a relocation in the right direction.

"I do not mind paying some cash out my profits, as long as I can gamble openly," says our cricket gambler.

It would likewise open a huge company opportunity for licensed bookmakers and international online sports betting business to establish operations in India.

And it would assist restrict match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue lots of, by assisting make deals involved in sports betting more transparent.

"If you work together with sports betting companies, you will have a really effective technique of stamping out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock wagering website, India Bet.

But lots of likewise think, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookie will need to be reasonable to make it attractive enough for them to gamble lawfully.

However, there are constraints.

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

He includes that people who utilize unaccounted cash to position big bets will never bet legally.

Approval question

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

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

And offered that India has a federal structural - each state will need to likewise pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their territory.
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"The process is so long and difficult that it will take years," states Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this ending up being a truth anytime soon."

Yet with the idea having actually been endorsed by an official panel for the first time, a minimum of a dispute has actually ignited around a subject - which till now was considered a taboo.
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