CHENNAI: After Governor RN Ravi approved the bill to ban online gambling, including online rummy and poker with stakes, the gaming industry is waiting for the state government to notify it before challenging it in court.
Malay Kumar Shukla, secretary of, the E-Gaming Federation, and Roland Landers, chief executive officer, of All India Gaming Federation, said they will challenge the constitutionality of the law once the ban is notified. However, details are not available on when the state will notify the law.
“We had provided various consumer protection and other measures which stop short of an outright ban. In such a scenario, this is unfortunate. What is also surprising is that the state government has already appealed the judgment of the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court issued notices last year.
Instead of waiting for the Supreme Court judgment, and in the meantime respecting the categorical decision by their own High Court, they seem to have taken another unconstitutional decision which will eventually benefit only online gambling operators,” said Landers.
Landers said, "The Central Government has anyway notified the rules of the online game, and as we have said the Central Government has the rightful mandate under the Indian Constitution to regulate online gaming.”
“As the apex industry body for online gaming, we at the All India Gaming Federation have been engaging with the Tamil Nadu government to understand their concerns and have also made them aware of the proliferation of offshore gambling websites and apps which flourish when constitutionally protected Indian apps are banned, as was also seen during the previous unconstitutional ban by the state government,” he said.
Shukla said rummy and poker games are listed for prohibition as games of chance or gambling under this new legislation runs contrary to the decision of the Madras High Court and Supreme Court. The online gaming industry has always been unequivocal in its readiness for a progressive regulatory framework by the government. “We are examining the legislation and shall be taking appropriate action based on legal advice in due course of time,” he said.