The Tamil Nadu government promulgated an Ordinance on October 3rd banning “online gambling and online games of chance”, amid rising pressure to take action on at least 17 gambling-related suicides in the state. On October 19th, the state assembly passed the “Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022”.
While the regulation will come into force on a date notified by the state government, for now, the Ordinance seeks to ban only rummy and poker, which are legal games in India. Other games can be added to this list using regulatory discretion. Contravening the ban can result in up to three months imprisonment, a fine of up to five thousand rupees, or both.
Why it matters: The issue is, a similar law outlawing these games was struck down by the Madras High Court the previous year for being “unconstitutional”, and harming the business interests of companies offering legal games in India. The 2022 Ordinance’s ambiguities may once again impact the business interests of online gaming companies offering their services in the state, opening the door for another set of legal challenges should it be passed into law unchanged.
“We believe that the current ordinance is unconstitutional and disregards six decades of settled jurisprudence,” said Roland Landers, CEO of the All India Gaming Federation in conversation with MediaNama. “The ordinance also shows a complete disregard of the Madras High Court judgment from last year, which struck down the previous law which banned online gaming in the state. (..) We will wait to evaluate the law, and if it is on the lines of the ordinance and prohibits constitutionally protected games of skill, we will challenge it since it violates the constitution. We have full faith that the Indian judiciary will uphold the fundamental rights of our members and Indian citizens.”
Read more at https://www.medianama.com/2022/10/223-tamil-nadu-online-gambling-ordinance-impact-gaming/
