With online games becoming more popular, the gaming industry, touted to be $100 billion worth, has formed an apex body—All India Gaming Federation (AIGF). The body will seek legal approval for the gaming industry, both online and offline, from the government. Attending the inaugural of the body held at FICCI in New Delhi, Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, Chairman, Law Commission, underlined the need to explore legalising of sports betting.
"This needs to be done after studying social, economic and moral implications of any such move under a liberalised regime. The myths and negative opinions on this issue need to be unfolded," Justice Chauhan said attending the gambling industry's inaugural event.
"While those in favour of legalising betting believe in the need to protect individual autonomy and minimum state interference, and those disfavouring it believes that preserving societal order and morality was also important. Therefore, there was a need for reforms that aim at flexibility while ensuring freedom of choice to consumers. Hence, there is a need to strike a balance between freedom and choice."
He said that there was a grave risk as legalising this activity might adversely affect the social fabric of India.
"There are chances that people in a bid to earn quick money through gambling might resort to unlawful means. A comprehensive analysis of the socio-economic circumstances in light of the constitutional guidelines was thereby essential before framing an umbrella legislation that legalises gambling."
The fallouts, he emphasised, could be when a person develops addiction. Criminal activities increase as a direct consequence of a rise in gambling loan sharks along with the industry.
Drawing analogy of alcohol, Justice Chauhan said that it must be kept in mind that these adverse effects do not arise from gambling per se.
"Harm resulting from excess is not something which is limited to gambling alone, as an excess of anything may negate its benefits. A common analogy would be alcohol, which when taken in moderation causes no great harm to the individual or society and may help people to socialise and relax."
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 the society, impose some controls and extract some revenue. Perhaps as importantly, if betting were legal, a huge chunk of money that, at the moment circulates only in the black market, would quickly become available," Chauhan said.
Sports business consultant and CEO of AIGF, Roland Landers said that the industry could be a focal point if legalised. "There are huge amounts of FDI waiting to come in this industry. We are hopeful that under the liberalised government of Narendra Modiji and with the GST regime, gambling and betting could be unifiedly taxed without operators getting into legal trouble later," Landers said announcing the launch of India Gaming Conclave—an annual event for the stakeholders to work towards legalising and regulating gaming industry in India.
"The current regulations are more than a century old and new laws would not just to restrict illegal activities, but to create a scope of revenue for the government to invest in social sectors like sports," said Rahul Chakravarty, FICCI director.
