The laws in India regarding online gaming are still being developed. Currently, in most places in India, as an Indian citizen, you can play at an online casino in the UK or other nations as a Public Gaming Act was passed in 1867 to outlaw casinos and gambling establishments nationwide. However, this legislation doesn’t prohibit participation in betting online.
Latest Developments
This year, 2022, the Central Indian government convened a meeting, including stakeholders from the online gaming industry. The conference was presided over by officials of many government ministries. Understanding how the Central Indian Government can support the business and create regulatory frameworks was the major objective of this conference.
The Central Indian Government has also established a task force to designate a coordination authority, comprehend global best practices for gaming, and provide a standard regulatory framework. The minister didn’t commit to announcing any regulatory frameworks for the industry. The minister did, however, request stakeholders to respond with written, practical proposals on regulatory models that the government may pursue regarding:
- Recognising and separating skill-based games from gambling (games involving no skill)
- Measures to reduce violence and addiction
- The structure of self-governance organisations and elements for responsible gaming
- Who’ll have the authority to regulate the sector alongside the government
Political and social activists, as well as state governments, have been blaming skill-based games like rummy, fantasy sports and poker, and some states have passed laws to outlaw all online games that are played for real money, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Telangana and Pradesh. As a result, the Central Indian Government’s decision to start discussions on resolving this issue is timely.
State vs Centre Regulations
States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Odisha now ban all types of gaming for real money, including stakes-based internet games. Recent changes to gaming laws passed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that forbade online games involving real money were overturned by the respective state High Courts as being unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary and in violation of rights to commerce and trade guaranteed by the country’s constitution.
A similar ruling was also made against a Kerala government notification that forbade online rummy betting. Despite these alleged wins for the gaming industry in the courts, the situation is still very unclear as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu’s governments are appealing against the ruling that the High Court made, arguing if skill-based games played for stakes are analogous to gambling or betting, legislatures have the power to outlaw them.
The states have harped on the financial losses incurred by a substantial portion of the population in online betting games and hinted at issues increasing addiction, debts and suicides as a result of such games. Furthermore, some jurisdictions have contested whether online card games like poker and rummy are based on skill, claiming instead that they’re vulnerable to manipulation and fraud.
Concerned about a recent rise in suicides that may have been brought on by rummy, the government of Tamil Nadu established a committee under the leadership of a former High Court judge to help create a new law after looking into various facets of how online games function, get advertised and their addictiveness.
Jurisdictional Issues
While several states are still pushing for a complete ban on online betting games, the federal government has agreed to look into measures to regulate the online gaming sector. On the other hand, the Central Indian Government may assert that it has the authority to control internet gambling via its legal authority to oversee interstate commerce, trade and other kinds of communication.
The question of whether the Central Indian Government should intervene at this time, while the subject is sub judice, arises given that the Supreme Court is debating whether it has the authority and jurisdiction to regulate online games and gambling.
The Final Debate
Even though all views in this article are of a personal capacity, let’s look at the debate pragmatically. If one were to approach the matter pragmatically, it would be clear that the federal government is in a stronger position to control the online gaming market, given that it is nearly hard for the states to police and enforce an online activity that crosses national and international borders.
It would be appropriate if the Central Indian Government intervened in the ongoing Supreme Court matters and made it clear that it intended to bring regulatory frameworks for the sector, given that the precise question of legislative jurisdiction vis-à-vis the Centre and states and whether a broad ban is constitutionally permissible is pending before the apex court.
This would allow the court to swiftly resolve the outstanding questions, delivering policy clarity and stability and putting an end to the industry’s plague of ongoing litigation and conflicts. To maintain clarity and stability for all parties participating in the online gaming business, one hopes that the supreme court, as well as the federal and state governments, would cooperate.
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