India to legalize sports betting

It’s quite possible that special laws regulating online sports betting will appear in India during the next two years. According to The Indian Express, more likely than not, the Ministry of Sports will appeal to its opposite members in the UK, as well as will sign a corresponding memorandum of understanding.

It is estimated, that the market volume of illegal betting in India, according to the international center of sports security, accounts for $150 billion. Local betting offices and unregulated offshore websites are extremely popular in this country, provided that the only legal and available form of gambling is horse racing, however charged with a 28% tax.

It is also known, that the Ministry of Sports has already started unofficial negotiations with various interested parties on the governmental level specializing in regulation of betting in India.

“The ministry believes, that taxes from new forms of gambling can be converted into an additional form of sports funding both on the local and governmental levels. The UK, for instance, has already overcome the problem of insufficient sports funding making use of the revenues coming from lotteries and online betting. In order to have a clearer picture of implementation and functioning of the sports betting system in India, it was decided to sign an MOU with the government of the UK”, commented the counselor board during their presentation.

Note, please: All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) presented a regulatory structure for sports betting implying creation of a unified centralized system aimed at monitoring of the said scope of activity (not distinguishing between online and offline structures). It is also planned to create a separate regulatory agency – the National Gambling Council of India.

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