The conflict between Tamil Nadu and the Centre over the case of online gaming!

Recently on Monday, the Governor of Tamil Nadu gave an approving nod to a Bill that seeks to ban online gambling. This comes just one day after the Centre brought forward novel rules on the matter of online gaming.

Last year in the month of October, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance, 2022 got passed by the state assembly. However, in March 2023, the ordinance got returned for reconsideration by Governor RN Ravi. Later, the Bill got readopted by the assembly and then delivered to the Raj Bhavan.

Tamil Nadu’s laws on online gambling

The Bill bars online gambling and chance-based games that are played for monetary benefits. The ambit covers even the games where both skill and chance are involved. The games where the element of chance is more than the element of skill are also included. Moreover, games that involve the use of wheels, dice, and cards are also included.

The state has also set up the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority. The Authority is conferred with the power to oversee online gambling firms in the state.

Centre’s norms in the matter of online gaming

Very recently, some amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021 have been notified by the MeitY. These amendments have cleared the regulations in the sector of online gaming. The amendments thus made demanded the establishment of a myriad of self-regulatory bodies (SRBs). The approval of these self-regulatory bodies will be needed by the online games having the elements of money and stakes involved. Additionally, it is worth noting that all the games that have the element of risks on the outcomes of events will be prohibited.

To make online gaming safer and more secure for everyone, the norms demand online gaming firms finish a KYC procedure for their users at the time they make an initial deposit to the accounts to play the online game. The Reserve Bank of India has laid down several KYC norms and online gaming companies will have to abide by these.

The tiff between Centre and State

Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT clearly stated that "State governments" overseeing online gambling is actually not needed any longer post the notification of IT rules for online gaming.

A day after the notification of the changed IT Rules, online gaming firms showcased their concerns in a meeting with MeitY over the passing of complete legislations by the state assembly that actually may not be in line with the norms given by the Centre rules. As per MeitY, gambling is a subject of the state, however, all the activities occurring on the Internet falls only in its own domain to oversee. These activities also include online gaming and online gambling.