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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
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Mumbai Business press reporter
It is the last over of the cricket match, with India requiring 17 runs to win versus Australia.
In his two-bedroom house situated in central Mumbai, a middle-aged guy is watching the game, nervously. He's resting on the edge of his grey colour couch with his cellphone glued to his right hand.
He has made more than 10 calls in the last thirty minutes - not to talk about the match however to keep revising his bet.
Five minutes earlier his cash was on Australia, but now as the Indian batsman prepares to deal with the last over he's altered his mind.
"I believe India is winning, make the modification," he informs his bookmaker on the phone.
And a few minutes later his prediction becomes a reality, as India wins the match in a nail-biting finish.
"I have made $200 today," he says with a childish glee.
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For more than three years he's been banking on cricket matches. We can't expose his name as what he's doing is illegal in India.
Besides horse racing, sports betting of any kind is not allowed India. Despite that, prohibited sports betting distributes prosper in the country.
'Black cash'
According to the Doha-based International Centre for sports betting Security, India's illegal sports betting market deserves some $150bn a year. And much of that gambling money is directed towards cricket.
Without any legal opportunity, punters position bets utilizing their phones by making calls to bookmakers. Gamblers can bank on anything related to the cricket match, from who is winning to the greatest private run scorer.
The majority of these deals involve so-called "black cash", which is money not declared to the taxman.
The 1867 Public Gambling Act bars any sort of gambling in India, but unlike in the US which has a law forbiding web sports betting, there is absolutely nothing similar here.
And overseas wagering business are using this loophole to entice Indians. Even though there are no online wagering operators based out of India, a lot people have signed up accounts with overseas firms.
"Legally you can escape [with this], as the law is ambiguous for online sports betting," says Mumbai- based attorney HP Ranina.
But despite this, it is "offline gambling", done through telephone call which the marketplace.
Require legalisation
The clamour to legalise wagering in cricket has actually grown after a panel selected by India's Supreme Court proposed the idea, stating it would help clamp down on corruption in the nation's favourite sport.
The Justice RM Lodha Commission was set up to suggest changes in the functioning of India's cricket regulative body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after the 2013 Indian Premier League wagering scandal emerged.
Two franchises have been banned for two years after some players and team authorities were found guilty of repairing parts of the match at the behest of bookmakers.
The panel likewise argues that legalised sports betting will generate tax incomes for the exchequer that could total up to $2bn a year.
Even bettors feel that legalising sports betting is a move in the best instructions.
"I don't mind paying some money out my profits, as long as I can gamble openly," states our cricket bettor.
It would likewise open a huge company chance for certified bookies and global online sports betting companies to set up operations in India.
And it would help restrict match repairing in cricket and other sports betting, argue numerous, by assisting make deals associated with sports betting more transparent.
"If you work alongside wagering business, you will have a really reliable approach of marking out match repairing," states George Oborne, who runs a mock sports betting website, India Bet.
But lots of also believe, that the taxes levied on the gambler and the bookie will have to be sensible to make it appealing enough for them to bet legally.
However, there are constraints.
"Definitely there will be prohibited wagering due to the fact that (some) people would not desire to leave an audit trail by entering the white market," states Mr Oborne.
He includes that people who utilize unaccounted money to place big bets will never ever gamble lawfully.
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Approval concern
For sports betting to be legalised, parliamentary approval will be required to produce a brand-new law, and politically this will be a hard idea to sell.
"Even though lots of people are associated with some sort of sports betting - it's still a questionable problem for numerous," says our unnamed punter.
And considered that India has a federal structural - each state will need to likewise pass a different law to legalise sports betting gambling in their area.
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"The procedure is so long and challenging that it will take years," says Mr Ranina."That's why, we are cynical about this coming true anytime quickly."
Yet with the idea having actually been endorsed by an official panel for the very first time, a minimum of an argument has actually sparked around a subject - which until now was thought about a taboo.
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For Sports Gambling to Be Legalised
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