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GAMING LAWS
India has a huge population of well over one billion people and as we know Indian population is very enthusiastic about sports and sports related activities. Indian sports has got an boost in the form of online gaming that has transformed physical sports into virtual sports, e-sports, e- games. India also has plenty of people who enjoy gambling in this region (gambling on cricket or horse racing betting, etc). Despite this fact, there is no clear regulatory framework that can decide legality or illegality of online games and online gambling.
In India, gaming such as casinos, racetrack and lotteries, is regulated under a combination of federal and state laws and according to Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that permit such gambling usually have licensing of those employed in the gaming industry. States that permit casinos and such games often have strict zoning regulations and other regulations to keep the society safe from evils of the game.
Most of the states have prohibited it, but there are some states which have allowed gambling because of the force of tourism and revenue generation.
Like in the state of Goa, it is allowed and to safeguard the internet of locals from the wrongful impact of gambling, they have been increasing tariffs to deter the common man from visiting such places and because of this, there has been a decrease in onshore casinos in the state.
Similarly in State of Sikkim, government has brought out an official notification prohibiting residents of the state from entering its two casinos to safeguard the interest of locals, whereas Control and Tax Rules, 2007 has notified Sikkim government to permit persons having photo identity card or passport, which is issued from outside the states of Sikkim to get entry in casinos.
GENERAL GAMBLING LEGISLATION IN INDIA
The main legislation relating to gambling in India is the Public Gaming Act of 1867. This act made it illegal to operate a venue where gambling took place. It also made it illegal to visit such places.
Gambling is defined under Indian Constitution as-
“Gambling includes any activity or undertaking whose determination is controlled or influenced by chance or accident or any activity or undertaking which is entered into or undertaken with consciousness of the risk of winning or losing.”
- Karnataka Regulation of Entry to Public Places and Regulation of Clubs Bill 2016, aim to stop any sort of gaming inside the club and illegal activities. Any clubs found doing so, the license shall be cancelled and lands given to such clubs on concession, lease shall be cancelled.
BETTING
Betting is prohibited under most Gaming Enactments. In Geeta Rani v. Union of India and ors. The question of whether sports betting is a game of skill is pending before the Supreme court.
In case of Dr. K.R Lakshman vs. State of Tamil Nadu, court held that betting on horse race is more of a game of skill and since then it is exempted from prohibitions under most Gaming Enactments.
LOTTERY
Under the Lotteries Regulation Act,1998 and the Lotteries Regulation Rules,2013. The Federal Government is empowered to organise, conduct and promote lotteries, subject to certain conditions.
- State of Sikkim regulates physical lotteries.
- State of Madhya Pradesh has banned lotteries.
- State of Punjab has specifically provided for online lotteries.
- State of Bihar vide the Bihar Ban on Lottery Act,1993 has expressly banned lottery.
Section 294A of IPC,1860 specifically prohibits private lotteries. Certain states like- Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, etc have repealed Sec294A IPC and have enacted their own legislation which bans lotteries other than non-profit lotteries.
Recently the Indian government has clarified about the FDI in e-commerce sector of India. As per the FDI policy is prohibited in Lottery business including govt./ private lottery etc.
CASINO
As casinos are mostly treated as betting and gambling activity and therefore it is prohibited under Gaming Enactments. Applies both for digital and land based casino gaming.
The Sikkim Online Gaming Act, 2008 covers certain casino games, which may be offered with their conditions.
ONLINE GAMING
- There is no dedicated law related to online gaming and online gambling in the Public Gaming Act,1867. Though it is no surprise because the internet was a long way from being invented. But it is quite evident that operating gambling websites in India is deemed illegal under the terms of this act.
- The Information Technology Act,2000, which includes various provisions related to offences relating to online activity, although there’s no specific mention of online gambling being illegal.
- In the States of Maharashtra, the state government has legislation which is specifically related to online gambling and they have banned such activities.
- Whereas, in Sikkim the govt. Now has authority to issue licenses to operate gambling services within the state.
- In the case of State of Andhra Pradesh v. Satya Narayan, court held that Rummy was a game of skill and therefore gambling law should not apply to it.
SOCIAL GAMING
It refers to such games, where no prize is offered and therefore under Gaming Enactment it is not considered as gambling. But depending upon the format of such games, various laws are triggered such as Intellectual Property Law which prohibits certain types of content such as IPC or IT act ,2000 which prohibits obscene content or the Indecent Representation of Women act,1986 which prohibits depicting women in a derogatory manner.
CURRENT OUTLOOK
- On the basis of the report, the Sports Online Gaming and Prevention of Fraud ,2016 was introduced as a member bill in Lok Sabha. It has been introduced with the aim of preserving integrity in sports and introducing a regulatory regime for online sports betting.
However this bill was lapsed with the dissolution of the Parliament and since then it has not been reintroduced.
- The All India Gaming Federation, self regulatory body for online games has demanded the Enforcement Directorate to investigate and take action against offshore betting websites that are illegally offering websites to Indian citizens and accepting bets from India, in contravention of IT Act,2000 and Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999.
- Recently, CID of Andhra Pradesh police has sought a ban on the websites of ‘Playwin’ which had allegedly been selling online lotteries banned in the state.
CONCLUSION
Online card games in India are in oblivion and legal troubles, as we do not have any law related to online card games.
Even online payment merchants, payment gateways, etc are supporting these online card games and fantasy sports websites. They can be held liable for not following cyber law due diligence norms. As they are blindly approved online payment to such games
Bank and payment can also be held liable for money laundering, FEMA violations and assisting in tax evasion.
Issue before the Supreme Court pertains to legality of playing Rummy,poker,etc with cash stakes. They have to come up with rules and regulations or regarding online games and online gambling in India.
By Nandini Singh :-
online gaming is still harmful for us. But as we don’t have any legitimate rules regulation and legitimate law it is still harmful for us. According to me our govt. have to be strict and have to make a proper and legitimate rules and regulation and a authorized law against online gambling and its related games.
Great information
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As, I am not a online gamer but still I want to read this article for some information related to this topic.. So that I can make others aware about this. I thought I’ll get some information from here but you have written so well that it’s became so informative and the way you concluded it..It was superb!!
Thankyou so much for your appreciation
Rules be made to confiscate license of the place where illegal activities take place and such awareness be made in public to raise the voice.and compounding of such offences not to be allowed. And scopebof sec 69A of IT act b widened . punishments should be made stricter
Online gaming is as harmful as it is in real world.
People are more prone to financial fraud in online games.
This article at length talk about the problems relating to online gaming. Government should make separate legislation to govern these activities.
This article is very well written and is easy to understand.
Amazing Article