Public Opinion Invited on TN Online Gambling Legislation

The State of Tamil Nadu has been hard at work in setting up a legal framework to govern online gaming. Due to multiple suicides and rising crimes owing to high debt caused by online gambling, in November 2020, the Tamil Nadu govt. banned online gaming with stakes. The Madras High Court struck this order down in August 2021, much to the rescue of the online gaming industry. The High Court said that the government was free to make a different legislation governing the issue, but the amendment to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act was blatantly unconstitutional.

The government, heeding the court’s advice, set up a four-member panel, headed by Justice K Chandru (retired) to provide recommendations that would effectively regulate online gambling in the state. The panel was tasked with analysing the risks associated with online gaming and the advertisements encouraging online rummy. The panel’s report backed the previous move by the government to ban all online games with financial stakes. Keeping in mind the pre-legislative consultative policy, the government has now invited public opinion and representations from civil society and other stakeholders on the same before it becomes law. The last date to write to the government is August 12^th, 2022, at homesec@tn.gov.