Howzat? The clamour to legalise sports betting in India

Published

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 against Australia.

In his two-bedroom home situated in main Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is viewing the 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 30 minutes - not to talk about the match but to keep modifying his bet.

Five minutes previously his cash was on Australia, today as the Indian batsman prepares to deal with the last over he's changed his mind.

"I believe India is winning, make the modification," he tells his bookie on the phone.

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

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

For more than 3 years he's been wagering on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is illegal in India.

Aside from horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, prohibited wagering syndicates flourish in the country.

'Black cash'

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 cash is directed towards cricket.

With no legal opportunity, punters put bets using their phones by making calls to bookies. Gamblers can bet on anything associated to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest private run scorer.

Most of these deals include so-called "black money", which is cash 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 law forbiding internet gambling, there is absolutely nothing comparable here.

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

"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 sports betting", done through telephone call which control the marketplace.

Calls for legalisation

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

The Justice RM Lodha Commission was established 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 wagering scandal came to light.

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

The panel likewise argues that legalised sports betting will bring in tax earnings 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 don't mind paying some money out my earnings, as long as I can gamble openly," states our cricket bettor.

It would also open a substantial business chance for licensed bookmakers and international online sports betting companies to set up operations in India.

And it would help limit match fixing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by helping make deals involved in gambling more transparent.

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

But many likewise believe, that the taxes levied on the bettor and the bookie will have to be affordable to make it attractive enough for them to gamble legally.

However, there are restrictions.

"Definitely there will be illegal sports betting since (some) individuals wouldn't wish to leave an audit trail by going into the white market," says Mr Oborne.

He adds that people who use unaccounted money to place huge bets will never bet lawfully.

Approval question

For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be needed to develop a new law, and politically this will be a difficult concept to offer.

"Even however lots of people are included in some sort of gaming - it's still a questionable concern for lots of," says 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 in their area.

"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 concept having been endorsed by an official panel for the first time, a minimum of an argument has actually fired up around a topic - which till now was considered a taboo.