CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the centre and the TN government to file counter-affidavits to the petitions challenging the online gaming regulations notified recently by the state government by March 21.
A division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and K Rajasekar issued the direction when the petitions filed by the online gaming companies seeking to quash the new regulations introduced by Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority’s (TNOGA) to restrict and regulate the use of real money games (RMGs) came up for hearing.
The bench stated that once the pleadings are completed, the respective counsels can commence arguments on the matters. The petitioners, including Play Games 24x7 Private Limited, Head Digital Works Private Limited, Junglee Games India Private Limited, challenged the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Activity (Real Money Games) Regulations, 2025, including regulation 4 (i), which prohibits those below 18 years from playing the RMGs, 4 (iii), which mandates know your client (KYC) registration of players with Aadhaar number for opening gaming accounts on these online platforms and 4 (viii), which bans playing of RMGs during ‘blank hours’ from 12 am to 5 am.