The Supreme
Court of India is considering whether sports betting and gambling could be
allowed legally in India. Currently, online betting and gambling is outlawed
and can attract a fine and imprisonment for individuals running a gambling
house.
However, the
state of Sikkim has issued online gambling licences in 2010 but only but over
an intranet, blocking access from the rest of India. The state government of
Sikkim has authorized four gaming and lottery licenses – to Sugal & Damani
Group, Future Gaming Group and Essel Group’s Playwin and Golden Gaming. Note that only three states
allow casinos in India – Goa, Daman and Sikkim.
The SC said
that it will take up the public interest litigation as part of reforms in
Cricket and petitioners argued that the legalized betting and gambling in
sports would curb match-fixing and generate revenue for the government.
Currently, there are a number of websites offer bets on Cricket matches.
The BBC points
out that there even though there are no online betting operators based out of
India, a lot people have registered accounts with offshore firms and operators
are using this to set up offshore betting companies.
How big is
betting in India: The Federation of Indian Chambers and Commerce and Industry
(FICCI) estimates the total turnover of the betting market at Rs 300,000 crores
($60bn). If the government caps the 20% of the profits generated by gambling,
the government stands to gain Rs 12,000- Rs 19,000 crore.
