CHENNAI: The prohibition of online games applies when they are played with money or stakes, and so, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act does not preclude online gaming companies from running gaming platforms in the state, TN govt told the Madras High Court on Thursday.
Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram, advancing arguments on behalf of the TN government, before the first bench Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu, said in online rummy, there is no guarantee that the players are real players and not bots.
The cards are not real but generated by software and algorithm running the game. The software, functioning as the dealer, has the knowledge of the cards opened and unopened; communication is limited to chat boxes with pre-existing phrases and emojis, he said, adding the nature of change is ambiguous and uncertain and the possibility for manipulation cannot be ruled out.
He said over 17 deaths by suicide resulting from online rummy and more than 30 deaths by suicide resulting from online gambling were reported in TN. Additional AG Amit Anand Tiwary contended that online gaming companies cannot be regulated since they have been functioning from other states and abroad.
Senior counsel Sathish Parasaran, representing an online gaming firm, said the argument that rummy becomes a game of chance if it is played online cannot be accepted. The court adjourned the case to August 21 for advancing arguments on behalf of the online gaming companies.