The situation in India is changing as different states try to adopt various approaches to the regulation and fighting against online gambling. The recent trends reveal the issues of policy-makers in managing the economic benefits with social costs in the continuously emerging digital gambling environment.
In a recent development, the Madras High Court has allowed online rummy and poker in Tamil Nadu by passing a ruling that these games come under ‘games of skill’. This ruling nullifies the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 that wanted to ban these online card games.
The reasoning of the court is on the fact that rummy and poker involve a considerable amount of skill and not mere luck which make them different from games that fall under gambling laws.
This legal verdict has again put the question of categorization of online games and their legal position in India into a controversy. While some of the states have classified some of the online games as legal skills games, others are approaching the issue with a lot of caution taking into consideration the issues of addiction and losses among the players.
On the other hand, there has been an increase in the measures taken by the central government to fight off unlawful offshore betting and gambling sites. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has warned celebrities, social media influencers, against endorsing offshore online betting and gambling platforms and surrogate advertisements.
This move seeks to safeguard the Indian citizens from unregulated gambling operations that may be located in areas that are out of the jurisdiction of the Indian laws.
This attitude of the government can be explained by recent attitudes to the social effects of online gambling, especially concerning the population that is sensitive to such problems. Recent occurrences such as cases of suicide due to gambling debts on the various online betting platforms have made the public become more conscious of the various risks involved in using unregulated online betting platforms.
To these challenges, several states are considering development of a comprehensive regulatory structure for online gaming. For instance, Karnataka is in the process of developing new legislation that seeks to govern monetary stakes on online games. The proposed law aims to strike a middle ground by legalizing skill-based games while at the same time putting measures in place to prevent gambling and people from being ripped off.
The Indian online gaming industry, which is already worth more than $1 billion and is expanding at a very fast pace, is following these regulatory changes. Stakeholders in the industry have noted that it is impossible to put a complete ban on online games and, in any case, this is not what is desirable in the modern world. They therefore support the correct categorization of games of skill and chance, the adoption of responsible gaming measures as well as the promotion of players’ rights.
The changing laws have also forced change within the industry, and new and improved technologies have been developed. Most firms are putting their resources into the latest age verification solutions, self-exclusion features, and AI-based tools to identify unhealthy gambling patterns. Such technological solutions are intended to show the industry stakeholders’ concern with responsible gambling and may have implications for future regulations.
While the debate is still on, the central government is now contemplating the establishment of a framework for the regulation of the online gaming industry. This has the potential of introducing more order in the presently chaotic environment that has the various states of the country implementing divergent policies on online gambling and gaming.
The next few months will be very decisive for the further development of online gambling in India. While courts, state governments and the central administration struggle with this issue on how to regulate this complex sector the result will have significant impact on the industry, its players and the society as a whole.
The current shifts in the laws of India concerning online gambling are evidence of the constant struggle of the policymakers around the world. While, as is currently seen with the increasing interaction between technology and the entertainment industry, the roles of gambling and other forms of entertainment are fading, the issue of determining the right balance of regulation is still a challenging one.
