Andhra Pradesh To Ban Online Gaming, Following Tamil Nadu And Telangana

Aadhya Khatri - Dec 02, 2020


Andhra Pradesh To Ban Online Gaming, Following Tamil Nadu And Telangana

On Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the AP Gaming (Amendment) Bill 2020 by voice vote to ban online gaming

On Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the AP Gaming (Amendment) Bill 2020 by voice vote to ban online gaming after some of the unfortunate incidents of youngsters taking their own lives because of debts caused by playing online games.

Apart from the AP Gaming (Amendment) Bill 2020, the assembly also passed by voice vote the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Laws (Second Amendment) Bill 2020 and three other Bills to boost the state’s aquaculture sector that brings more than ₹ 50,660 crores to Andhra Pradesh’s economy each year.

Despite protests by the Telugu Desam Party, the Andhra Pradesh Fisheries University Bill 2020, AP Aquaculture Seed (Quality Control) Amendment Bill, and AP Fish Feed (Quality Control) Bill were passed by voice vote.

Commenting on the new Amendment Bill on gaming, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy – Chief Minister said many youngsters took their own lives in the past few days because of debts from online gaming.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy chairing the Cabinet meeting
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy – Chief Minister said many youngsters took their own lives in the past few days because of debts from online gaming

According to M Sucharitha – Home Minister, the purview of the AP Gaming Act of 1974 now includes online gaming.

The Home Minister said the reason behind the act of amending the AP Gaming Act was that online gambling could give rise to criminal acts in society and boost the number of organized crimes like fraud and money laundering.

She added that several gambling websites were not authentic and there were no measures to check for their legitimacy, which makes it easy for these websites to trick users and carry out frauds.

1600x960 1010177 M Sucharitha
M Sucharitha – Home Minister added that several gambling websites were not authentic and there were no measures to check for their legitimacy

Under the new amendment, first-time offenses are punishable by a ₹ 5,000 fine and one year in prison. For each subsequent offense, the offenders are subjected to imprisonment of up to two years and a ₹ 10,000 fine. Plus, all offenses under this amendment are non-bailable and cognizable.

According to B Satyanarayana - Municipal Administration Minister, the reform put forward by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs includes the amendment of relevant laws to switch property tax levy to a capital value-based system, from the current annual rental value system.

B Satyanarayana
According to B Satyanarayana - Municipal Administration Minister the reform includes the switch of property tax levy to a capital value-based system, from the current annual rental value system

As stated by Fisheries Minister S Appala Raju, the provision of the aqua sector Bills is to build a regulatory mechanism to prevent farmers from suffering from losses because of spurious feed by ensuring the quality of fish seed and feed.

Andhra Pradesh isn’t the first state to crack down on online gaming. A few days earlier, Tamil Nadu amended three acts to ban the activity by enacting the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

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A few days earlier, Tamil Nadu amended three acts to ban the activity by enacting the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020

The acts in question are the Tamil Nadu District Police Act, 1859 (Tamil Nadu Act XXIV of 1859), Chennai City Police Act, 1888 (Tamil Nadu Act III of 1888), and the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930.

Under the Chennai City Police Act, 1888 (Tamil Nadu Act III of 1888), Tamil Nadu Act 51 of 1997, and Tamil Nadu Act 32 of 1987, gaming in the form of wagering or betting and be the means of dice or cards are banned in Tirunelveli, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Chennai, Salem, and Madurai. The activity is forbidden in the rest of the state under the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930.

By the Gaming Act, words like ‘electronic record,’ ‘computer’, ‘computer network’, ‘computer system’, ‘communication device’, ‘cyber cafe’, and ‘computer resource’ will have assigned meanings in the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Section 3A states that:

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The word computer system, cyber café, electronic record, computer network, computers, computer resource, and any device for communication were also inserted under the Act. The punishment which involves three months in prison and a fine of ₹ 500 now entails a fine of ₹ 5,000 and six months in prison. Those who open online gaming establishments are punishable by two years in jail and ₹ 10,000.

Apart from inflicting fines and prison time on people running betting and wagering businesses, the act also prohibits “electronic transfer of funds” for betting, wagering, and distributing prize money and winnings.

The Act left out ‘imprisonment,’ ‘conviction,' and ‘Instruments of gaming,’ ‘common gaming-house,’ ‘gaming’ under the Tamil Nadu District Police Act, 1859. So now three states that have banned online gaming are Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.

The Telangana Cabinet banned online gaming in 2017. It passed an Ordinance amending to prohibit online card game rummy. Those who promote or participate will face prosecution.

Telangana Cabinet
The Telangana Cabinet passed an Ordinance amending to prohibit online card game rummy

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