Chennai: The move from Tamilnadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit promulgating an ordinance banning online gambling was widely appreciated. However, many point out a few missing pieces in the ordinance, including meagre fine amount.
The ordinance has come at a time that many suicides caused due to financial loss suffered from online gambling and betting were reported.
Even law experts after studying the ordinance said that the punishment must be more stringent to help people overcome and curtail the addiction. They also feel a State-wide ban is not enough since it is about online activities and a nation-wide action is needed.
High Court advocate V Kannadasan says, “Online gambling is conducted with wide publicity by spending huge money and that alone calls for punishment to be enhanced. The fine amount must be in lumpsum, at least Rs one lakh.”
He pointed out that there is no mention of any kind of monitoring mechanism. “The onus must be on both parties: the gamer and the company running the website. But the ordinance mentions punishment only for the player”, he said.
Kannadasan said that the most severe aspect of the case was how the controversial publicity of these ‘online games’ targeted the poor. “The law has a clear definition of gambling. In this case they advertised that the poor can, ‘play and earn’ which is unlawful and misleading.”
K Venkatesan, who too is a High Court advocate, says, “Gambling must be fought tooth and nail. With the current ordinance, offenders can escape using loopholes. The existing lesser fine amount may not restrict them.”
Lawyer Vishnu Kumar says, “one has to give the ordinance time until it becomes a law. Only when an offender is brought to book will we know the strength of the ordinance. Over time when it becomes a law it would gain strength.”
Meanwhile, the city police have welcomed the ordinance and are going into various aspects of it to take action against offenders.
The city police have as of now listed 15 websites on which gamers have previously filed complaints after losing money.
When asked if games such as Rummy which are established under the Societies Registration Act would come under heat, an official of the city crime department said, “Just because we have a Land Registration Act, it does not mean land grabbing does not happen.”
The official explained that money involving games like Rummy is said to be promoted and advertised as a game of skill.
“Many complainants told us they had high skill in game while playing among friends and yet lost huge amounts of money online websites. This comes across as cheating. The inclusion of leading actors for advertisement had propelled its popularity online,” an official said.
A few days ago, Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s statement read that the ban is on wagering or betting in cyberspace using computers or any communication device or resource and this could attract a punishment of Rs 5,000 and six months imprisonment.
The ban also extends on electronic transfer of funds used for wagering or betting, distributing the winnings, prize money.