The Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh passed a bill to ban online games. (Figurative)
Amaravati:
The Andhra Pradesh Legislature on Tuesday passed by voice vote the AP Gaming Bill 2020 (Amendment) that bans online gaming in the state after some young people committed suicide in recent days after they went into debt playing online games.
The Assembly also passed Andhra Pradesh Municipal Laws Bill 2020 (Second Amendment) by voice vote and three bills to give a big boost to the aquaculture sector which contributes over Rs 50,660 crore to the state economy each year.
The AP Fish Feed Quality Control (Quality Control) Bill, the AP Aquaculture (Quality Control) Seed Amendment Project and the Andhra Pradesh Fisheries University Bill 2020 were approved by voice amid protests from the opposition Telugu Desam Party.
Speaking about the gaming amendment bill, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that some young people committed suicide in recent days after they were forced into debt due to online gaming.
Interior Minister M Sucharita said the AP Gaming Act of 1974 was being amended to bring online gaming into its purview.
Explaining the goal behind the gambling law amendment, the Interior Minister noted that online gambling could induce criminal behavior in society and increase the number of organized crimes such as money laundering and fraud.
“Many Internet websites that claim to offer gambling services are not authentic and there are no regulatory measures to verify the legitimacy of these sites.
That makes it really easy for these sites to defraud customers and it also raises a lot of security and privacy issues, “added Ms Sucharita.
Under the amendment, the first offense carries a prison term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 5,000. For each subsequent offense, the prison term could be extended up to two years and a fine of Rs 10,000. All offenses under this have been recognized and not liable for bond.
Municipal Administration Minister B Satyanarayana said that as part of the reforms suggested by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, relevant state laws were being amended to change the property tax from the annual rental value system current to the equity-based system.
The new system would bring the state more than 120 million rupees as additional revenue in property taxes in local urban bodies.
The aquaculture sector bills had provisions to establish a regulatory mechanism to ensure the quality of feed and fish seeds to prevent farmers from incurring losses due to false feeding, according to the Minister of Fisheries, S Appala Raju.
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