Many experts advocate legalizing betting in India so that it can be regulated and earns the government
revenue. With Goa and Sikkim having already given it legal sanction is the rest of India ready for it?
By Kaushik Joshi
Considering the widespread betting market in India and ruthless tricksters who make fools part with their money, it’s time that betting was regulated. Several professionals and online forums have urged the government to introduce legal but regulated gambling in India to bring this underground economy out of the grip of the mafia. Often, illegal profits generated by bookies are used to fund terrorism and drug trafficking.
Prof Dheeraj Sharma, who teaches marketing at IIM, Ahmedabad, recently did a study: Should betting be legalized in India? and is all for legalizing it. He says: “Legal but adequately regulated betting in the country would not only benefit the Indian economy but society at large. Gambling in India is heavily restricted except in select categories like lotteries and horse racing. Betting or gambling is illegal in India but there is no law that makes online betting illegal.”
PHONE OPERATIONS
Offshore betting companies are apparently using this loophole to lure Indians to bet on almost everything. Most betting syndicates, modules and rackets are operated through phones. Sharma says: “Online gambling is a global business. Bet365 is a UK-based gambling company having 14 million customers in 200 countries.”
Indian laws do not apply here as the company operates under a UK gambling license and facilitates the use of the e-wallet. With no servers or advertising in India, Indian authorities can’t do anything to stop Bet365 from servicing Indian punters and customers who can gamble on matches, including IPL cricket, at such sites.
Presently, there are some 85 countries which have legalized internet gambling. In India, Goa and Sikkim are well-known gambling destinations, besides Daman. Sikkim is the first state to legalize online gambling, with Playwin, a popular lottery game, being run by the government of Sikkim.
In Goa, casinos operate on land and in ships and in 2013, brought in Rs135.45 crore revenue. Gambling is largely governed under the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act of 1976.
The study found that the UK and South Africa have a regulation board and law that can keep tabs on gambling operations like match-fixing in sports. In the same way, India can protect every sport from match-fixing and spot-fixing scandals. Sharma proposes limiting the age of bettors to above 18 years, preferably 25, and also limiting the number of transactions in a given period. He also wants a warning for gambling similar to the one for smoking, something like “Betting leads to losses”.
Advocating legislation for betting, Sharma has this to point out: “We don’t have the resources to stop betting. How many cops would you post to check it? And how many judicial officers would you engage to deal with gambling cases?”
ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES
Jashwant Jajal, 60, a chartered accountant, however, says there is no point in legalizing betting. “Would anyone support legalizing prostitution? Or for that matter prohibition? What is the use of revenue if legalizing proves suicidal for society?” he asks. Prakruti Vyas, a homemaker, is also dead set against legalizing gambling. “When you legalize anything, people think it’s alright to do it. Even adolescents might try it for fun. And the lure of easy money translates into behavioral addiction which leads to adverse social consequences,” she says.
Kiran Pithwa, a sportsman who played cricket for LIC, Ahmedabad division, supports regulated betting. “What people would do stealthily, should be made legal, but cautiously, so that no loopholes are left. Even without a law, sports betting with players is unpatriotic because it affects Team India and its prestige. Betting on who will win the toss, for example, is not that serious. We should rein in match-fixing in cricket through law.”
Entry 34 of the State List under Schedule VII of the constitution allows all Indian states to have their own laws on betting and gambling. Despite prohibition and arrests, a great amount of money is being bet on sports. And a large amount flows to unlicensed offshore internet sites or illegal bookies, many of whom are allied with organized crime. So, why not regulate it and earn some revenue for the exchequer?
Unregulated sports betting raises several issues such as:
1.Lack of information on the gambling industry as most of it is in the black market.
2.No accountability on money flows and loss to the exchequer.
3.No way to monitor pattern of bets.
4.Gives boost to criminal activities like match-fixing.
5.Bookies may be dealing with minors.
MANY POSITIVES
Regulating betting would make it easier to track and catch anomalies, which can be monitored. Also, authorities can limit the amount of money and opportunities available with fixers and thus, make it less lucrative for them. The police would then be a regulatory authority rather than a preventive one as bookies will be required to keep records of transactions or else have their licenses cancelled. Tracking cash exchanges among betting agents would be easier. Earlier, authorities focused on controlling the physical premises to prevent gambling. But gambling now has gone beyond state and national boundaries, thanks to the internet.
In the present scenario, internet-enabled sports betting could be checked by making regulations under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The government could amend the Public Gambling Act, 1867, to include a section on “authorized games”, the approach adopted by Goa. Also, regulations could be made under Entry 42 of the Union List which pertains to “interstate trade and commerce” and Entry 31 which deals with “posts and telegraphs, telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other forms of communication”. But the big question is whether such regulation will actually check the gambling menace?