Tamil Nadu Governor Returns Bill Banning Online Gambling Games

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has returned to the state government the ‘Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill’, passed by the Assembly in October last year, which sought to ban online gambling games.

The Bill was returned by the governor on the ground that the state legislature has “no legislative competence” to frame the Bill, The Hindu reported.

The governor also referred to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY’s) draft amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, published in January seeking public comments, to solidify his position.

The Bill sought to prohibit online gambling games, including rummy and poker, as well as regulate online gaming.

Now, the state government can refer the Bill back to the Assembly for another adoption.

Meanwhile, the state’s law minister S Regupathy was quoted as saying by news agency PTI that it is not clear why the governor returned the Bill.

He said that the state legislature is competent to pass the Bill to ban online rummy as the Madras High Court said in its 2021 judgement that a new law to ban online gambling may be enacted by the government.

The governor is duty-bound to give assent to the Bill when it is passed by the Assembly again, the minister added.

Citing the addictive nature of online gambling and online games, the Bill said that these online offerings posed a threat to public order.

The Bill was passed a week after the state cabinet approved an ordinance banning online gaming with stakes.

The online gaming industry has been calling for central regulations for a long time since the laws currently vary from state to state, creating problems for the companies as various state governments have often resorted to banning games.

Amidst the debate over regulations, the Centre appointed MeitY as the nodal ministry in December 2022 to oversee the gaming industry.

Later, the ministry released draft amendments to the IT Rules 2021, pertaining to online gaming.

India’s gaming market size was estimated to be around $ 2.6 Bn in FY22, and was predicted to reach a size of $8.6 Bn by FY27, according to a report by Lumikai. The number of gamers in India stood at 507 Mn in FY22, growing at a CAGR of 12% from 450 Mn in FY21.