Karnataka became the first Indian state to take a stand on online gambling in India. But the stand turned out to be doomed for the bettors in Karnataka.
The new amendment states that the government will ban gaming for profit whether they are played via mobile apps or computers which are confined to a person’s home or a cyber cafe.
What is the buzz around this new bill?
Online gambling and betting will soon be banned in Karnataka. The Cabinet made this decision on a Saturday, where the amendment was made in the Karnataka Police act.
However, the law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said in the cabinet meeting bettors can still legally enjoy lottery games and betting on the horse races and lottery games outside the state.
The Cabinet approved the draft of the amendment bill. The bill will be placed before the house during the legislative session that will commence from the 13th of September.
The decision will be followed by the direction from the Karnataka High Court seeking the stand from the state government on the online gambling matter.
“Gaming means all forms of wagering or betting in the form of tokens, valued in terms of money, virtual currency, and electronic transfer of funds in connection with any game of chance. It is also an act of risking money on the unknown result of an event, including on a game of skill, playing any game or by any third parties.” states the draft bill.
What else one needs to know?
Furthermore, Madhuswamy also added that the gaming articles include virtual platforms, software, computer systems, mobile apps, the internet, and accessories.
Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that “The police do not have powers under existing laws to take action against online gambling. We need to strengthen the law, and that is the reason we are amending the Karnataka Police Act,”
Furthermore, he also added that the technology could only tackle online gambling. To this, he said that “We have a panel of experts, and we will take action against online gambling sites. There is a need to bring strict rules and penalty clauses. Tamil Nadu suffered a setback after banning online gambling. After the order, some websites went to court, which ruled against the government. We will study the bills passed by other states on online gambling and come up with a better set of rules.”
Earlier this year in June, Chief Secretary P Ravikumar also filed an affidavit in front of the High Court’s division bench, which was in response to the direction issued by a PIL filed by DR Sharda.
The chief secretary put forward a draft bill which was prepared for the consideration of the Cabinet. Cabinet put this bill forward after taking considerations from various departments and legal experts.
What is in the affidavit?
The affidavit states that soon after the Cabinet approves the draft bill, the Home Department will take all the necessary steps to put it in front of the legislature. Also, chief minister Basvaraj Bommai is keen on banning online gambling.
Soon after he took charge, he had a meeting with senior police officials. He instructed them to look after it and other dark activities on the dark web, including drug trafficking.
Online casino and rummy is already banned in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. The neighboring states have passed this law after discovering that many people have committed suicide after losing in online games.
How is the online gaming industry reacting to this new bill?
As they say, every action has a reaction, commenting on this new amendment the Karnataka cabinets have taken; Roland Landers, CEO of All India Gaming Federation, said that “The Indian regulatory framework has clearly differentiated between games of skill and games of chance in India. Just because games of skill sometimes involve an entry fee for participation, they cannot categorize them with gambling; hence, legitimate skill gaming businesses should not be caught up under a gambling ban. A regulation that bans gambling but allows online skill gaming is the right approach and something that the AIGF and the industry are expecting and looking forward to.”
Rameesh Kailasm, the CEO of Indiatech (the industry group that has represented the start-ups like MPL, Zupee, Dream11, etc., said that “cognizance of the fact that games of skill are different from games of chance is a start and the ultimate decision to understand and create the distinction and create relevant regulations will be with individual States.”
He added that this is a similar case with many other sectors in the emerging online start-up domain. A national-level prescriptive guideline put forward by the NITI Aayog and industry bodies like Indiatech.org, which is known for online fantasy sports.
In addition, court rulings on casual online skills and sports-based games guide states to understand the evolution of regulations for this new upcoming sector.
How are other industry giants taking the stand?
While discussing the impact of the multiple state regulations on this new sun-rising sector of gaming, Kazim Rizvi, the founder of public policy think-tank, says that to attract more and more investments to this sector and to support the upcoming industry of digital gaming. This sector comes with the possibilities to generate employment and open up the opportunities to contribute to the revenue. Moreover, this sector has the potential to generate revenue for the public exchequer.
Rizvi also added that “The lack of policy experience within this field and its dynamic nature calls for at least an overarching model guidelines to provide for basic principles that state legislatures can adopt”
