As reports emerge on imminent ban on gaming for stakes in Tamil Nadu, the industry says it’s concerns were not heard by the Justice Chandru Committee. Many in the industry opine that the committee did not meet them or get their views.

“We submitted our representations to meet the committee members but were not given permission to meet them. Plus, we’re unsure how much data the committee was able to collect in 15 days and submitted it to the State government. Without consulting us, the report will be one-sided,” said Sameer Barde, CEO, E-Gaming Federation according to DT Next.

Following pressure from all political parties, the State government appointed a 4 member committee to look into the adverse impact of online rummy and recommend a strong law. The committee was given a time frame of two weeks. After 15 days, the committee submitted its report on Monday.

The report which is not yet in the public domain, according to reports, used data of multiple agencies such as the number of suicides due to online rummy, the amount of money involved in the game, the issue of addition and mental health and so on.

The cabinet discussed the report and decided to enact an Ordinance to ban online rummy.

“There are many Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in the market where banned games can be played multiple times. When a game is banned, only legitimate players will leave the game. More and more illegal players will come into the games. Moreover, the game will be taken underground and all transactions will be made illegal, which will pave the way for more black money,” explained Sameer according to DT Next.

Meanwhile, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said that the decision to  has come due to the continuous struggle and protest of PMK and further asked the Governor to immediately approve the Ordinance sent by the cabinet to ban online gaming.