Explained | Which Indian States Have Banned Online Gaming and Why?

Can you gamble online in India? Which states have regulated online gaming and which have banned it?

Online gaming and online gambling are two sides of the same coin.

(Image: Deeksha Malhotra/ The Quint)

On 16 November, the Madras High Court withdrew a batch of petitions challenging a Tamil Nadu state ordinance that bans online gaming and online gambling, after the state government said that the ordinance had not come into effect yet.

Even as this happens, a central government-appointed task force has recommended a new nationwide legislation to regulate online gaming and digital gambling.

Why now? The Tamil Nadu state government passed an ordinance and later a bill in the state Assembly, on 26 September and 19 October respectively, prohibiting online gambling and gaming, including poker and rummy. This makes Tamil Nadu just one of only a few states in India to pass gambling laws.

What led to this? The Tamil Nadu state government cited a spate of gambling-related suicides over the past few years as well as the findings of the Justice Chandru Committee (we'll explain more about this later in the article), as the primary reasons for the new law.

Where does India stand on online gaming and gambling? Is online gambling banned in your state? And how does India fare compared to the rest of the world?

What's the Difference Between Online Gaming and Gambling?

In the eyes of the law, the difference between gaming and gambling comes down to the element of skill, says Vasundhara Shanker, lawyer and Managing Partner at Verum Legal, who has worked with several gaming companies and payment aggregators.

"An online game which does not involve skill is going to be considered a gambling activity, and not a gaming activity, for the purpose of the law," she adds.

Which law? The Public Gambling Act, 1867, which governs penalties for "public gambling" in the country.

Section 12 of the Act says these penalties won't apply to "any game of mere skill."

So, the key difference, at least under the law, is that gaming which is permitted under law involves skill and gambling is left at the mercy of chance.

But while the definition under law puts the difference down to the element of skill, in reality the law isn't clear on what games this includes. To complicate matters further, there's no centrally maintained list of games that are banned.

Just to clarify, gaming here means gaming for stakes i.e., money. According to Shanker, the exchange of money is an essential element for these games to fall under the scope of gambling laws.

So, What Does Indian Law Say About Online Gambling and Gaming?

At present, India has just one central law that governs gambling in all its forms. It's called the Public Gambling Act, 1867, and as its name suggests, it's an old law, ill-equipped to handle the challenges of digital casinos, online gambling and gaming.

In fact, this was the reason that, on Monday, 14 November, an inter-ministerial task force recommended creating a new central legislation to govern gambling and online gaming in India.

Now, the Public Gambling Act only allows exceptions if the game being bet on is a "game of skill" and not a game left purely up to chance.

The Public Gambling Act has also been left untouched because gambling in India is largely a state subject. This means states are expected to create their own laws to regulate gambling in their jurisdictions.

This is why some states have a law specific to govern online gaming while others don't. And on that note...

Is Online Gambling Legal In My State?

Which States Have Online Gaming Laws? States like Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh have adopted the Public Gambling Act with some amendments.

However, other regions like Goa, Sikkim, Daman, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, have drafted specific laws to regulate public gambling in their jurisdictions. But, since it's still a new and growing space, not all of these states have laws to regulate online gaming.

Here's a short list of states that have passed specific laws to govern online gaming:

• Sikkim – Sikkim regulates digital casinos offering games like blackjack under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act, 2008. Operators are required to obtain a license under the act and only allowed to offer the games at intranet terminals. Sikkim allows sports betting through intranet terminals as well.

• Meghalaya – The Meghalaya government allows land-based and digital casinos under the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021. Meghalaya also allows sports betting in the form of horse betting, once licensed.

• Nagaland - The Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion of Regulation of Online Games of Skill Act, 2016 regulates poker in the state as a "game of skill".

Additionally, no states in India have separate specific laws to regulate "games of skill" except Nagaland and Meghalaya.

Further, fantasy league betting, which refers to betting on fantasy football, cricket and other fantasy sports leagues, has been mostly unregulated across India.

However, while Nagaland and Meghalaya have specific laws to regulate and even license fantasy league betting, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Assam have outright banned betting on fantasy sports leagues as well.

• Telangana – In 2017, Telangana banned all forms of online gaming and gambling through an amendment to The Telangana Gaming Act.

• Karnataka – The Karnataka government had banned all online games (both of skill and chance) by amending the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, in 2021. However, this was overturned by the Karnataka High Court in February 2022.

Similar laws banning all online games, including games of skill, were passed in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The laws in Kerala and Tamil Nadu were challenged and overturned in courts of law, to exempt games of skill.

Which brings us to the present case.

The Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Ordinance

Like we mentioned in the beginning, the Tamil Nadu state government passed an ordinance banning all online games, including rummy and poker, on 26 September 2022. Three weeks later, the state government passed a bill to replace the ordinance.

As of this report, the bill is awaiting the state governor's approval, before it can become a law. The ordinance is also yet to come into effect.

Shortly after the ordinance was announced, it was challenged by the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), as being unconstitutional. The Quint reached out to AIGF for a statement on this.

"The ordinance is constitutionally untenable, and ignores six decades of settled jurisprudence. The ban disregards the Madras High Court judgment from last year which clearly struck down the earlier law banning online games within the State of Tamil Nadu. Our concern is that such measures will only help offshore and illegal gambling operators, and result in more harm to the users of the state."

Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation

The AIGF's primary contention with the Tamil Nadu government's ordinance is that it prohibits games of skill as well, like rummy and poker. However, now with the state government stating that the ordinance is yet to come into effect, what's going to happen next?

"The state Assembly has passed the bill, but it is yet to be notified. We are awaiting its notification and are currently in the process of evaluating the law. If it is along the same lines as the ordinance and prohibits constitutionally protected games of skill, we will be forced to take appropriate legal recourse.  We have full faith that the Indian judiciary will uphold the fundamental rights of our members and Indian citizens."

Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation