This cyber game may be a losing bet: Karnataka readies to ban online gambling
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Karnataka is readying to ban online gambling, joining Kerala and Andhra Pradesh in amending the law to implement the curbs that it says are necessary to protect citizens from the risk of losing heavily in cyberspace.
The move comes even as a Tamil Nadu law to this effect was struck down by the Madras High Court last month.
The state has proposed a set of amendments to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, to prohibit all types of online gambling activities that involve exchange of money in digital and other electronic forms. However, the proposals exclude lottery and racing. The draft bill defines online games as those involving all forms of wagering or betting.
The state cabinet, chaired by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, cleared the proposed amendments on Saturday after taking note of reports that some people were taking extreme steps after losing their money in cyber gambles amid the general distress in the economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Tamil Nadu, for instance, two persons reportedly committed suicide in recent months after losing all their money playing on gaming apps.
“We are amending the law to curb online gambling involving all types of currencies,” Karnataka law minister JC Madhuswamy told ET on Sunday.
The BJP government will introduce the bill in the legislature in the session that begins on September 13.
A few months ago, Tamil Nadu had promulgated an ordinance amending its Gaming & Police Laws Act, 2021, which banned online gambling. However, the Madras High Court struck down the amendments last month, calling the law unconstitutional.
Madhuswamy said the Karnataka government will study the Madras High Court judgement to ensure its amendments are watertight and withstand the test of law. He said the state government has taken steps in response to a direction from the high court, which came in response to a public interest litigation.
Officials handling cybercrime in the Karnataka Police department said they have not been able to estimate the size of the online gambling and betting market because people who lose money don’t usually come to them with a complaint. A sense of guilt may be the reason for this tendency, they said.
Earlier this year, Kerala prohibited online rummy games under the purview of the Kerala Gaming Act. When a Bengaluru-based company challenged it, the Kerala High Court refused to stay the ban.
Telangana is also planning new rules for online and fantasy gaming, which will focus on self-regulation as well as game development.
Karnataka BJP MP KC Ramamurthy had demanded in the Rajya Sabha last year that the Centre ban online rummy, saying it had become an addiction among the youth and that it was not a game of skill, but gambling.
Online gaming in India is expected to more than double to Rs 29,000 crore, with the number of gamers rising to 657 million by 2024-25, according to a KPMG report. The report estimated that the online gaming market size was around Rs 13,600 crore in 2020-21, with 433 million gamers.
