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Karnataka govt legalises online betting for horse racing

Last Updated 04 July 2020, 03:17 IST

The horse racing community in Karnataka heaved a sigh of relief as the government heeded their plea and legalised online betting in the state on Friday.

Without an online betting forum, Indian horse racing has taken a massive hit for nearly five months with everyone involved incurring huge financial losses. The BTC, in particular, was hit hard because their Summer Season -- their most lucrative time of the year -- was scheduled to begin in May.

Additional Chief Secretary of Finance in I S N Prasad, who was in charge of overseeing the document submitted by the Bangalore Turf Club, sent the letter to the government’s Finance Department.

The Finance Department signed on the document, approving ‘in principle’ for the ‘legalising of betting’ and shot out the circular to BTC.

"It's a milestone for us," D Vinod Sivappa, the chairman of the BTC, told DH. "This has given us a lot of breathing space. We have to thank the government for being so considerate. It was big on their part. It's a landmark decision because this means the Karnataka government wants us to continue racing. That’s a huge relief for us."

Earlier, every centre in the country relied purely on punters turning up at venues, but with new social distancing that would not be feasible. Hence, the BTC, like every other turf club in the country, pushed for the state government to allow online betting.

Asked if this clearance has far-reaching consequences for the sport in the country, Sivappa answered in the affirmative. “This is a giant leap for the sport in the country. Now that our state government has shown faith in us, we can expect the others to do the same. It opens up a whole new avenue, and we’re at the forefront of it.”

BTC’s pitch to the government, besides opening up about the financial losses, was that an online system would improve transparency, eliminating bookmakers and illegal bets on the sidelines - a problem the club has handled without much success. It was a last-ditch effort without any real hope given the government’s prickly association with the turf club in the past.

Hari Mohan Naidu, a managing committee member of BTC, conceded that it will take the club over two months to come up with an operational phone application, which happens to be a far cry from what was claimed over a month ago. Members of the committee had gone on record, saying they were in the process of ‘applying finishing touches to the application’.

“We are now in the process trying to find a proper vendor who can develop the app and give us an end-to-end solution. We have an IT team in place and we’re getting presentations from various vendors. They will recommend who is the best,” said Naidu, the former chairman of BTC.

“From the time we zero in on the vendor, sign on the dotted line and experience the application, it will be two to three months. Also, we need to integrate it with the existing system in the premises.”

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(Published 03 July 2020, 16:53 IST)

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