India evaluates legal gaming
The assessment will be organised by the national Law Commission with the help of state associations.
India.- The Law Commission of India has urged the contribution of state associations to carry out the official assessment about potential legal gaming operations. The government of India is determined to evaluate the possibility of legalising the gaming industry in order to boost the economic and touristic sectors.
“Whilst the Law Commission has been reaching out to the various stakeholders to seek their observations and suggestions, it considers that the views of your association will be valuable in formulating its recommendations on betting,” wrote Sanjay Singh, member secretary of the Law Commission, to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as reported by espncricinfo.com. “I would, therefore, request you to forward the views of the association on the matter to the Commission at the earliest, as we would like to submit our report in line with the directions of the Supreme Court, at an early date.”
The illegal betting market in India has an estimated worth of US$150 billion, according to the International Centre for Sport Security. Local bookmakers and unregulated offshore websites make the most of it in the country, where betting is only legal on horse racing, taxed at 28 percent under GST.
“The response of the state in such a situation should be to regulate the activity, not seek to stop it completely. Legalisation would give the government the opportunity to bring gambling out from the dark corners of society, impose controls and extract some revenue … if betting were legal then a huge chunk of money that, at the moment, circulates only round the black market, would quickly become available,” added BS Chauhan, the chairman of the Law Commission.
