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It was a few days before the ongoing India-Australia series that bookies (a slang for bookmakers who accept bets on sports results) from metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Jaipur moved to smaller and comparatively less popular towns like Ratnagiri, Nashik, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Belgaum. Once there, they purchased new SIM cards, opened new ledgers and started new accounts for their regular customers. 
 
In the recent past, this has happened before every important series, and now, with the ongoing India-Australia series and the soon to come Indian Premier League (IPL), they could not have taken any chances. They move to smaller towns so that they can hide from the prying eyes of law enforcement agencies, even if it means spending a lot and moving abroad. 
 This happens because <keyword id="1084645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports-betting">sports betting</keyword> is illegal in India, except in the state of Sikkim, where it was recently legalized. Once caught, bookies come under the risk of seizure of equipment and cash, penalty and even jail terms, which can vary from two months to three years. 
 
This relocation and deception has made it difficult for authorities to nab them, and as per an anonymous Mumbai police officer, the only solution to control illegal cricket betting is to legalise and regulate it. 
He says so because he feels that once betting is legalised, licensed bookies themselves will come to the police and help them stop illegal betting, a threat to them. 
 
On January 4, a three-member panel which was appointed by the Supreme Court also recommended the same thing about cricket betting. The panel was headed by Chairman RN Lodha and was set up to investigate the IPL match-fixing scandal of 2013; it was also asked to suggest ways to improve the functioning of the BCCI. 
 
The Lodha panel took a realistic view on betting, and said that BCCI should have an "in-built mechanism" which can make sure that no players or administrators bet on matches. 
 
"It's both positive and negative," former cricketer and BJP MP Kirti Azad told ET. He himself is fighting alleged corruption in the Delhi &amp; District Cricket Association. "By legalising cricket betting, the government would receive more taxes. At the same time, legalised betting may attract a lot of poor people." 
 
As of now, horse-racing is only sport in India where gambling is allowed, because the law deems it as a game of skill rather than a game of chance. However, it clearly means that betting in all other sports, especially cricket, has thrived secretly. 
 
As per FICCI estimates, India’s betting market is worth at least Rs 3,00,000 crore, with 80% share owned by cricket. If cricket betting is legalized, the Centre can earn as much as Rs 20,000 crore. 
 
<a href="http://mrcrickettipster.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/26-1424946287-cricket-betting-bangalore-ccb-police-arrested-3-bookies2-600.jpg">Image source</a>

Here’s what you need to know about ‘legalised’ cricket betting

<ul><li>A legal panel recommended that Indian government make <keyword id="1084645" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sports-betting">sports betting</keyword>, <keyword id="6366684" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gambling">gambling</keyword> a legal practice. </li><li>However, the panel also laid down a number of regulations that the government should put in place for the activity. </li><li>Gambling and <keyword id="54897" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Betting">betting</keyword> are currently allowed with restrictions only in the states of Goa, Daman and Sikkim.</li></ul>The <keyword id="99866" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Law-Commission-of-India">Law Commission of India</keyword>, this Thursday,<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/legalise-gambling-and-betting-to-help-generate-revenue-jobs-law-panel/story-0oe6dPPdTbKEACaq9wyPYJ.html" data-type="tilCustomLink"> recommended that the government</a> allow gambling and sports betting as a regulated activity under the direct and indirect tax regimes. The report, ‘Legal Framework: Gambling and Sports Betting, including <keyword id="1521" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cricket">Cricket</keyword> in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’, was submitted to the Law Minister, <keyword id="6354886" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ravi-Shankar-Prasad">Ravi Shankar Prasad</keyword>. The legal body was asked by the Supreme Court to frame a law in 2016 for legalising betting in cricket. However, the panel decided that since betting and gambling are intertwined, the law could be extended to both. It also said that various “skill-centric” games must be exempted from the current gambling law, just like horse-racing is. However, the panel refused to list any of the games. It said that since it was not possible to completely prevent these activities, a law for “effective regulation” is the only workable option. In a 2013 report, the FICCI estimated that the underground betting market in India is huge pegging it at ₹3,000 billion. Regulating these activities would strike straight at black money circulation and the underworld’s control over the illegal and unregulated gambling industry. The body says that the activity must be taxed with excise like, Income Tax and the Goods and Services Tax as it would help generate revenue for the government, which could further be used for the “welfare of the people”. Though the idea sounds bizarre, it has been done in other countries. To back up their argument, they cited examples of legal betting and gambling in China where the state lotteries sales recorded a high of $51 billion in 2013. Another recommendation was for the government to allow Foreign Direct Investment in Indian casinos and online gaming industry. The report also favours a regulated licensing regime for which only Indian nationals should be eligible for. “Gambling and betting, if any, should be offered only by Indian licensed operators from India possessing valid licences granted by the game licensing authority,” states the report. The bigger picture, however, is that tourism and the hospitality industry is expected to grow, if betting, gambling is regulated and this would further increase job opportunities and increase the revenue in the country. The panel also plans of linking PAN or Aadhar with these activities. It will make transactions mandatorily cashless and will also keep a check on illegal activities like money laundering. The linking will also help the government regulate laws about how much a person is allowed to stake depending on their income, losses or wins and keep a cap on the number of transactions done over a period - monthly, mid-yearly or yearly. The panel has divided gambling into two types - ‘small gambling’ with lower takes for lower income groups and ‘proper gambling’ for higher stakes and high income groups. However, one of the members, Professor S Sivakumar filed a separate note to the government strongly disagreeing with the panel. He said that these recommendations were only for vested purposes and would lead to “unhealthy discussions”. Gambling and betting are currently <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/betting-in-sports-including-cricket-should-be-legalised-says-law-commission-1878645" data-type="tilCustomLink">allowed with restrictions</a> only in the states of Goa, Daman and Sikkim.

Sports betting, gambling might turn into a regulated, taxed activity in India

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6354679" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gst" source="Orion">GST</keyword> Council has levied a 28% rate to casiones, <keyword id="149956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="horse-racing" source="Orion">horse racing</keyword>, etc on the amount the gaming company earns from its users. </li><li>The GST Council has recommended removing the critical distinction between game of skill and <keyword id="10751675" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="game-of-chance" source="Orion">game of chance</keyword>. </li><li>The decision is expected to hit the <keyword id="6422069" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-gaming" source="Orion">online gaming</keyword> industry hard and the shares of listed players has taken a nosedive. </li></ul>The online gaming industry woke up expecting a bad day on Dalal Street after the 50th GST Council announced its decision to levy a 28% GST on online gaming, along with horse racing and <keyword id="71409" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="casinos" source="Orion">casinos</keyword>. As expected, shares of listed players like Nazara Tech and Delta Corp took a major hit with the latter nosediving 20%. The online gaming industry stakeholders have termed the 28% GST on the full value of gaming as "irrational and egregious", saying that the move is a self goal that will kill the skilled online gaming sector in the country. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="But first, what is the dispute" comment="subhead" text="But first, what is the dispute">But first, what is the dispute</cmsannotation> The main debate has been about online gaming categorisation, whether it is a game of skill or a game of chance. “The Government is saying that if it is a game of chance, it will come under the category of betting, gambling, so there will be a GST of 28% on the gross value. The industry is saying that it is a game of skill and should be liable to18% GST, not on the gross value, but only on the commission component,” explains Pratik Jain, Partner, PwC India, a professional services firm. Roland Landers, CEO of the All India Gaming Federation, said that the decision ignores over 60 years of settled legal jurisprudence and lumps online skill gaming with gambling activities. "We believe this decision by the GST Council is unconstitutional, irrational, and egregious. This decision will wipe out the entire Indian gaming industry and lead to lakhs of job losses and the only people benefitting from this will be anti-national illegal offshore platforms," reads his statement. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The impact on the online gaming industry" comment="subhead" text="The impact on the online gaming industry">The impact on the online gaming industry</cmsannotation> Experts and gaming company owners agree that this is going to adversely impact the gaming industry in a major way. “It will be interesting to see the business impact for the online gaming sector considering that this sector has been touted to have significant growth potential,” says Shilpy Chaturvedi, Partner, Deloitte India, a professional services firm. Joy Bhattacharjya, Director-General, Federation of Indian <keyword id="34077" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fantasy" source="Orion">Fantasy</keyword> Sports (FIFS), says that as pointed out by FIFS and many of its members on numerous occasions, change in valuation to tax on the total consideration will cause irreversible damage to the industry, loss of revenue to the exchequer and loss of employment for lakhs of skilled engineers. “The decision will have a chilling effect on the $2.5 billion of FDI already invested by investors and jeopardise potentially any further FDI in the sector. Further, this decision will shift users to illegal betting platforms leading to user risk and loss of revenue for the government,” says Bhattacharjya. Experts say that the higher tax burden will also put a blocker on India’s expanding gaming industry, and deter the new player from entering the industry. Industry insider, Mitesh Gangar, the co- founder and director of PlayerzPot, a fantasy gaming company, says that the move will corner the gaming industry in a big way. “The overall operations will not be feasible. The high tax burden will completely restrict the cash flow, limiting a company’s ability to invest in research, innovation, expansion or survival,” he said. The government on its part has said that the move isn’t targeting any particular industry. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The decisions were intensive and were taken after consultation with all the members, including those representing states like Goa and Sikkim where casinos form a key part of the tourism sector."

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Here’s what you need to know about ‘legalised’ cricket betting

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Sports betting, gambling might turn into a regulated, taxed activity in India

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Online gaming industry says 28% GST makes operations unfeasible

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