MUMBAI: The Turf Authorities of India (TAI), the umbrella organisation of various turf club’s in the country, has managed to build a consensus among racing centres to start the National Tote for all the pools from the Hyderabad races to be held on August 1.
All the money placed by the punters at the different racing club’s betting portals will be combined in the National Tote to show approximate dividends in real-time and the dividends will be paid accordingly.
“It took a lot of convincing to get all the turf clubs on board and thanks to former RWITC chairman Zavaray Poonawalla’s tireless efforts, we finally succeeded in achieving this dream project which will help racing grow in our country,” K Uday Eswaran, chairman of the Bangalore Turf Club informed TOI on Thursday.
Hastened by the Covid-19, the concept of online betting finally became a reality in India as the turf clubs were forced to conduct races behind closed doors. Subsequently, all the clubs now have online portals to facilitate tote-betting, which provided racegoers an option to bet online legally.
This new arrangement for betting, however, has not been as lucrative as punters would have liked, primarily due to lack of attractive dividends owing to the 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST). Thus, a large number of punters are turning away from tote and instead prefer to bet with illegal bookmakers who accept bets at minuscule charges.
With no GST relaxation in sight despite hectic lobbying by the turf clubs with the central government, a National Tote appears to be the only way out to provide attractive dividends to punters as a common pool has the potential to swell the betting kitty. And when this is reflected in various club’s online portals, this will not only be a big boost for the sport but will lead to a win-win situation for both the punters and the club.
Meanwhile, Zavaray Poonawalla, the chairman GST Cell and counsel member of the TAI, along with his team and senior counsel Aryama Sundaram, made a powerful presentation to the Members of Group Of Ministers (GOM) on earlier this week on Tuesday addressing the adverse impact of GST on horse racing.
In the 15 minutes window allocated to the Horse Racing industry during the GOM meeting, TAI cited Supreme Court and High Court judgments that establishes the fact that GST on prize money does not fall in the ambit of Actionable Claim as far as horse racing is concerned.
Since its inception and regularisation in 2017, GST Act on Actionable Claims has raised ambiguity and concern both in the ministry and affected industries.
The varied interpretation and perceptions on the Actionable Claim clause in GST Act imply shortcomings which have triggered deliberations and a need for correction.
It has been almost three months since the GOM has been formed on the behest of the Union Ministry of Finance to study the intricacies of GST application on horse racing, online gaming and casinos and while several meetings have taken place, the matter remains inconclusive.
“All bets placed at race courses are through an electronic foolproof system called Totalisator. A small fixed percentage of the bet amount is charged as a service fee purely for organising the event of horse racing and for equestrian welfare including the workforce involved. It is the only amount retained by the clubs as commission and the clubs in no way are a part of the bet whatsoever. Race Clubs are non-profit organisations governed by set guidelines and managed by honorary committee members,” explained Poonawalla.
“Horse Racing Industry in India has witnessed a sharp decline in its operations since the evolution of GST and is now on the verge of closure. It is a great misfortune for our country and horse lovers that one of the oldest sports in the world is losing its glory while it continues to thrive in other developed countries which unlike India have no history of horse racing. We have made every effort backed with facts and credentials to substantiate our appeal on GST reform and we humbly hope that justice will prevail and that the GST Council will accede to our appeal on the basis of merit.” Poonawalla added.
