LEGALISE BETTING? YOU BET!
By Ruma Dubey
Betting. Dictionary says that this means a wager in gambling. In even simpler terms this means we put money on something based on its future performance. Sound very familiar, right?
What we all basically do in the stock market is place a bet as every stock that we buy, be it for long term or short term is based on our perceived hope for the future. But this is not only legal but we have some of the best brains in the world working in this industry.
And then there is horse racing. That too is betting where people place money on the horse which they think will win the race. So in the stock market it’s a stock and in horse racing, it’s the horse. In the same line of thought, what about wagering on commodities? Bets are placed on future expected price of pulses, grains, rubber, spices, oil and metals. All these forms of ‘betting’ have got legal approvals. Horse racing too is legal. Actually, the law on ‘bets’ is very gray in India. Post 1947, all states have their own set of laws for gambling and betting. For eg: Casinos are allowed in Goa and horse racing is allowed as long as it is within the premises of the race course. There is something known as the Public Gambling Act, which states that betting on games of mere skills is allowed. But what is “mere skill”? Now that is not defined. That is precisely why horse betting is legal- because it is a game of skill.
Well, then if horse racing is a game of skill, where a special ability is acquired through training, where jockeys are skilled riders who ride the horses to victory; then in the same breath, isn’t cricket or for that matter, any sport not a game of skill? All cricketers are specially trained, they hone their skills – be it batting or bowling or wicket keeping. They have coaches. So in what way is this not a game of skill? There is no ruling in the Indian courts on this as till date no such case has ever been presented so there was no opportunity to judge it as a game of skill or chance.
Spot fixing is an evil but betting is not. So why can’t betting be legalized? When we know that it is happening all around, with the underworld also stated to be involved – in fact after drugs, cricket is stated to be the biggest money earner for the underworld. If this is legalized, proper channels are made for betting with registered members, like our stock exchange, wont it prove to be more prudent? It will help end the menace of the underworld and at the same time, help bring in the Govt more money.
FICCI has presented a report – Regulating sports betting in India – A vice to be tamed? And making a case for legalizing betting, based on a survey which it had conducted its findings were:
1: 74% respondents in FICCI Survey voted that legalizing sports betting will help curb match fixing problem.
2: The Govt will earn tax revenue
3: Employment generation (more than 8000 people are employed in casinos in Goa).
4: Protecting players, coaches and all involved with sport from unscrupulous approaches
5: 83% of respondents in FICCI Survey said regulating sports betting with proper laws is better than banning it.
But the biggest benefit which FICCI has stated, “greatest advantage of regulating sports betting is that there will be accountability for the large amounts of money transferred through illegal channels leading to reduction in cases of match fixing, money laundering and crimes. The question now is how to tax the money involved in gambling and need to devise a system which encourages betting operators to function openly.”
KPMG has also presented a report titled – Online Gaming: A gamble or a sure bet and in that it has stated that the betting market in India is worth Rs.300,000 crore and if the Govt decides to tax @ 20% of the profits, Govt could earn a possible revenue of Rs.12,000 to 19,000 crore. That’s huge money!
But it will not be legalized as in our mindsets, we feel that ‘betting’ is morally wrong though it is done illegally. More importantly, many in higher echelons of the society are a part of this betting racket; so how will they allow this source of black money channel to become ‘white’?
Gold smuggling was one of the biggest illegal money earners for the underworld; see how legally allowing people to bring in gold has nixed this business completely.
For those wanting more information on the reports of KPMG and FICCI, the links are given below:
http://www.kpmg.com/EU/en/Documents/Online-Gaming.pdf
http://www.ficci.com/SEdocument/20208/report-betting-conference.pdf