Online Gaming Ban: SC Issues Notice On TN Govt’s Plea Against Madras HC Order

The Supreme Court on Friday (September 9) issued a notice on a plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the Madras High Court’s order striking down the state’s ban on online games such as rummy and poker.

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Vikram Nath issued the notice and asked respondents including gaming firms like Junglee Games, Play Games 24×7, Gemeskraft Technologies, along with All India Gaming Federation and more entities, to file their replies on the matter in four weeks. 

The bench has listed the case for hearing after eight weeks.

The Tamil Nadu government moved the Supreme Court in December last year against the Madras High Court’s August 3 judgement. A HC bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had declared the government’s law banning online betting games as ultra vires of the Constitution.

Following Tamil Nadu’s path, the Karnataka and Kerala governments had also banned online games in their states. However, the High Courts of both the states lifted the bans.

In March this year, the Karnataka government also moved the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s order quashing several provisions of the Karnataka Police Act prohibiting betting and wagering in online games.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government is looking to bring online gaming under stringent regulations. In June, the state government had constituted a committee under retired Justice K Chandru to examine several areas of concerns pertaining to online gaming.

Recently, the Esports Players Welfare Association (EPWA) requested the Tamil Nadu government to distinguish games of skill from gambling. 

The Centre is also looking at regulating online gaming and has formed an inter-ministerial committee to come up with a framework for the industry. The committee is reportedly planning to set a limit on the daily money spent by players on in-game purchases.

Meanwhile, there are also other efforts to curb and regulate online gaming such as introducing a higher goods and services tax (GST) rate. A final decision on the same is still awaited.

As per an EY report, despite the regulatory uncertainty, the online gaming segment in the country grew 28% in 2021 to reach $101 Bn. It also estimated that online gamers will continue to rise and reach 500 Mn by 2025, making the industry the fourth-largest segment of the Indian media and entertainment sector.