Indian gambling trade association in protectionist mode?

Reports on Friday that reveal the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has written to the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi asking his government to interfere with financial payments by Indian punters to international online gambling operators carry a whiff of protectionism in the opinion of some industry observers.

The trade body, which represents the interests of domestic operators, does not appear to have reservations against gambling per se, only that which presents the local industry with competition.

This is illustrated by a passage in the AIGF correspondence which suggests that the prime minister considers the posture taken by the Law Commission of India, which earlier this year issued a recommendation that government seriously consider the regulation and legalisation of land-based and online sports betting, but with a qualification that clearly appeals to the AIGF that such liberalisation be confined to “Indian-licensed operators from India.”

After a relatively brief frisson of interest, debate and comment by various interested parties that proposal did not seem to go anywhere, especially in government circles (see previous reports).

In pressing their point the AIGF went a little OTT in their communication, giving a dire warning that specified international operators like Betfair, bet365, Jeetwin, BodogIndia and 1Xbet:

* Lure and accept bets from Indian citizens, presenting the risk of gambling addiction;

* Contravene Indian national laws against gambling;

* Violate the Foreign Exchange Management Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act;

* Are a threat to India’s national security through the outflow of Indian money via “unaccounted and clandestine means”;

* Present unspecified opportunities for the monies transacted to be used for the financing of other illegal activities.

Either the trade body is spectacularly uninformed on the international online gambling industry and its responsible gambling and financial capabilities and practises, or it chooses wilfully to ignore those aspects altogether in seeking to exclude external competition.

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