The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on September 17 to ban online gaming or betting by amending the Karnataka Police Act of 1963, precribing maximum imprisonment of three years and penalty up to ₹1 lakh.
The Tamil Nadu government moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court (MHC) order that struck down certain amendments introduced by the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, as unconstitutional in the matter of Junglee Games India Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. v The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors, reported a local news agency.
Indiatech.org, an industry body representing tech start-ups recently recommended to the GoM (panel of State ministers) constituted by the GST council that GST should only be levied on the platform fee charged by online skill-based games and not on the total prize pool money.
Amid litigations, crackdowns and bans, online gaming involving stakes has frequently attracted the ire of Southern India. Karnataka is the recent entry in the list of its southern neighbours to bring in a legislation banning online betting and gambling in the upcoming Legislature session starting on Monday.
With the conditions easing up, they are hopeful that they will be able to explore that aspect more freely. Navkiran shares that poker can be a different category like cricket in India in the next 15 to 20 years.
The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, drafted with an aim to ban online gambling, proposes a prison term of up to three years and a fine as high as Rs 3 Lakh for violators.
The state government in July had informed the High Court, hearing a petition seeking a ban on all forms of online betting and gambling, that it had drafted a bill.
The online gaming sector is also looking forward to the setting up of a council of ministers to explore an alternative tax structure for goods and services. There is still disagreement as to whether these firms should be taxed on the overall amount of money that consumers spend on competitions or only on the fees that these platforms charge.
Centre's affidavit was filed in a plea seeking a ban on online gaming sites. It argues that the petitioner has failed to implead state governments as parties to the case. It also states that proper adjudication would not be possible unless the respective state governments are part of the proceedings.
While the government’s acknowledgment of strategizing a centralized approach to regulate gambling and betting sites is a significant move, the states of India are changing their local gambling laws. Furthermore, the online gaming industry is getting court orders for the same, thereby, creating more hurdles in restricting gambling and activities that require a skill.
In episode four of G2G news’ flagship video series “Game on with Jay Sayta”, the host explored the entire spectrum of the gaming industry ranging from growth triggers, real money gaming, and future projections with none other than the CEO of the oldest online skill gaming industry body, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) Roland Landers.
The senior leader's comments came after Madras High Court, on 3 August 2021, lifted the ban on online games for stakes in the state. He added that the advertisements about online gaming are luring people into it.
The Tamil Nadu government’s effort to protect its youth from the temptations of online gambling by amending a gaming law to ban online rummy and poker has not survived judicial scrutiny. Played for a wager, bet, money, or stake these games turned out to be highly addictive to a level where people even placed bets on rooster fights from all over the world.
There is a lot of debate on whether rummy and the likes of it played on digital platforms are games of skills or games of chance. Sadly in spite of rigorous education programs and awareness campaigns, a huge number of the Indian population and some state governments consider rummy a game of chance.
The petitioner argued that several youngsters were addicted to playing online rummy especially due to the lockdowns. He also added that health was affected by constant online gaming, leading to suicide in some cases. Thus using the grounds for a ban on such online games.
The chorus to ban online games involving cash has compelled the game developers to speed up their efforts in putting together a request to state governments to draft a law for such online games.
In November 2020, the state issued an ordinance to ban online gaming, wagering or betting in the cyber world. This ordinance was later enacted as an amendment of the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act 1930 and was called the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act 2021.
