SUMMARY
Speaking to media at an event in Chennai, MoS IT said states were authoriesd to regulate online gambling but not online gaming
While Tamil Nadu has released an online gaming law, the minister said it makes no sense that a state government would try to regulate a participant on the internet
Just a few days after the central government notified its online gaming rules, the Tamil Nadu government notified its online gambling law which banned multiple skill-based games
Reiterating his earlier position, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday that states cannot regulate online gaming.
Speaking to media at an event in Chennai, MoS IT said states were authoriesd to regulate online gambling but not online gaming, ET reported.
While Tamil Nadu has released an online gaming law, the minister said it makes no sense that a state government would try to regulate a participant on the internet.
“The online gaming rules that have been notified after almost three months of consultation basically say what types of online games are allowed on the Indian internet,” Chandrasekhar said as quoted.
Just a few days after the central government notified its online gaming rules, the Tamil Nadu government notified its online gambling law which banned multiple skill-based games. Following that, gaming industry body All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) moved to Madras High Court seeking a stay. However, the Madras High Court on Monday (July 3) did not grant any kind of interim relief to the online gaming companies.
While the gaming act’s challenge by the AIGF was listed alongside online gaming companies, the court said that they would prefer to take up the batch of writ petitions for a final hearing anytime rather than hearing the matter for interim relief since the arguments would be the same in both the cases.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notified the rules for online gaming in April which said all online games would be determined as permissible or not by a self-regulatory body (SRBs).
Talking about SRBs, the minister said some applications have been filed but the government would study and take a slow approach as SRBs would regulate a critical and sensitive area like online gaming.
Meanwhile, a Noida-based NGO has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court recently, challenging the constitutional and legislative validity of online gaming rules.
In its petition filed on July 1, the NGO contended that the rules transfer regulatory powers from the State to SRBs, which are funded by online gaming companies with a vested self-interest in regulating the sector.
