Online gambling is on the verge of becoming a multi-million-dollar business, companies are minting money through online gambling. Basically, gambling can be defined as any game in which a person risks money or a valuable holding to win money. Gambling in India started decades back, even before anyone could think in fact it is also been portrayed in the famous Indian book Mahabharata which is being referred to as 6th-5th century BC. Gambling money online was opened to the public in the year October 1994 and was recently started in India but lately, there was a huge boom when a lot of online gambling apps suddenly started advertising and promoting.
Online gambling
- an addiction:
Gambling itself is a serious problem
in India, with the introduction of online gambling there is a huge number of
people who are getting addicted to the wrong idea of making fast money. About
87% of adults in Indian cities believe that online gaming takes a toll on their
physical and mental well-being.[i] Hence
Online gambling is an addiction and is an issue of concern. Although there are
some laws that regulate online gambling in India, there is a need for more
strict laws and regulations. Some law that regulates gambling in India is “The
Public Gambling Act, 1867” – before independence, online gambling is regulated
by each state in India, and each state has its own rules against online
gambling. The constitution of India in its seventh schedule, list 2 (state
list) empowers the state to make laws against gambling and online gambling. The
Public Gambling Act was bought into force in the year 1867, during
pre-independence which prohibits any game which involves money, except lottery.
After independence, many states enacted laws against gambling and betting,
including West Bengal Gambling and Prize Competition Act, 1957, Bombay
Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887, Punjab Public Gambling Act, 1961, Kerala
Gambling Act, 1960, Goa, Daman, and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976, Sikkim
Regulation of Gambling (Amendment) Act, 2005, etc.[ii]
It is hard to accept but it is the truth that our favorite game cricket is looped into gambling and it is to everyone’s knowledge but the saddest thing is no one literally no one can do a thing. Every year millions of rupees are put into the game, the main reason is to release black money and the players of the game are all big shots, who have the department in their hands and so people are definitely talking about it but no one dares to take a step against it. Recently a web series that went viral, “Inside Edge” gives a clear image of not only the game which is played on the ground but also the game played behind doors “The Game of Money”, “The Game of the Rich”, “The Game of Gambling”.
Laws and
Punishments relating to Online Gambling:
Considering the legalities of online
gambling in India, Online gambling is fully legal in India, subject to
restrictions and ban in some states. There are some states which have put heavy
bans on Online gambling, states such as Assam, Sikkim, Daman, Nagaland, Odisha,
Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. Today online gambling and sportsbooks are
gaining more popularity in the country. In the state of Tamil Nadu, during the
AIADMK government rule, then Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami November 2020
amended a 90-year law to ban online games including online rummy and online
poker with stakes on the ground that teenagers and young adults were losing
money and cited cases of suicide.[iii]
Recently the current Law Minister S.
Regupathy said that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin was fully
aware of the negative effects of online gambling and its effect on families in
the state, The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said it was committed to
banning online gambling and that all efforts are on to invoke the existing laws
to serve the purpose.[iv] The
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has constituted a committee under the
retired Justice Chandru on June 10 to conduct a study on the impact of online
rummy after several cases of suicide due to gambling came to light, the
committee is been asked to submit a detailed report within 2 weeks, the
committee is also been asked to investigate cases due to monetary loss and
suicide due to loss of money in gambling.
According to the Public Gambling Act,
1967 any violation of the law would attract a fine of Rupees 200 and
imprisonment of 3 months. All online gaming and online gambling are regulated
under the IT Act, 2000. The law prohibits Online Gambling, with a fine of
Rupees 1,00,000 and imprisonment of 5 years. Provisions under The Public
Gambling Act, 1867 which talks about penalties against gambling are, Section 3
Penalty for owning or keeping, or having charge of a gaming-house; Section 4
Penalty for being found in gaming-house; Section 7 Penalty on persons arrested
for giving false names and addresses; Section 15 Penalty for a subsequent
offense; Section 16 Portion of fine may be paid to informer; and Section 17
Recovery and application of fines.
To Conclude, online gambling is
actually an issue that can turn into a disaster very soon. We have seen and
heard stories of people becoming rich overnight but there are cases where
people have lost everything due to the ideology of getting rich quickly and
have also committed suicide. The Tamil Nadu Government indeed has taken a wise
step by taking the situation seriously and conducting an inquiry over online
gambling and we hope that we find good results that will help improve the
situation and help courts make a better decision. Everything has its
limitations, as far as online gambling is concerned it seems like it is going
out of hand and it is high time that the state, the centre, the courts, the
learned lawyers, the whistle-blowers, and the citizens become vigilant and
start taking actions against the same.
[i]
https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/87-indian-adults-believe-online-gaming-has-an-adverse-affect-on-health-says-a-new-survey/articleshow/76277942.cms#:~:text=The%20virtual%20playing%20field%20comes,India%2C%20said%20in%20a%20statement.&text=Two%20of%20every%20three%20respondents,outdoors%20or%20having%20social%20interactions
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