Last Update: January 05, 2023, 12:45 PM IST
Even if states want to ban it outright, the IT ministry’s draft rules suggest e-gaming companies to register under a self-regulatory organisation. (Representational image)
Since the Center cannot afford to ban the $200 billion online gaming industry, the Union IT Ministry has come out with a draft rule that restricts state government attempts to ban games.
In Tamil Nadu, over 17 people committed suicide allegedly due to online gaming addiction and financial loss. Like the previous ADMK government, the ruling DMK wants to ban online gaming, but with the opinion of legal experts.
The DMK government has appointed a four-member committee headed by former judge K Chandru and sought a report on the impact of online gaming addiction and the possibility of banning it in the state.
The Justice Chandru panel submitted the report in June, 2022 recommending a ban on web-based online gambling.
Based on the report, the Tamil Nadu government passed an ordinance and sent it for Governor RN Ravi’s assent on October 1, 2022. But the governor did not approve the ordinance and it lapsed on November 27, 2022.
To justify the delay, an explanation was sought by the Governor’s office, to which the state government replied within 24 hours.
Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Raghupathi met the governor to get the bill signed. But the efforts of the state government did not bear fruit.
Till date, the Online Gaming Prohibition Bill has not received the assent from the Governor. Meanwhile, more than four people committed suicide due to financial loss and addiction to online gambling.
Even as the state awaits assent to the bill, Governor Ravi met representatives of the online gaming industry in the first week of December, 2022. While there was no official press statement from his office, the online gaming industry association confirmed the same. Milan.
Meanwhile, since the Center cannot afford to ban the $200 billion online gaming industry, the Union IT ministry has come out with a draft rule that restricts state governments’ attempts to ban the games.
The draft regulation aims to treat the online gaming industry like a social media company through rules laid down in the regulation.
Even if states want to ban it outright, the IT ministry’s draft rules suggest e-gaming companies to register under a self-regulatory organisation.
The draft also suggested that the self-regulatory organizations come up with a screening mechanism to decide acceptable gambling, whether it is a game of chance or a game of skill or anything else.
It further suggests appointing a Chief Compliance Officer who should be resident in India. Further, the draft rules demand companies to verify KYC of players to ensure that minors are kept away from such platforms.
When the state government waits for the assent of the governor to completely ban online rummy in the state, the governor’s silence and the Centre’s plan to come up with a new IT Act leads to a political and constitutional crisis.
read all latest india news here