Updated: November 21, 2020 8:24:15 pm
In the ordinance banning gambling, the TN governor said that due to online gambling, innocent people, mainly young people, are being cheated and some people have committed suicide. (Photo: Bloomberg)
The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit, enacted an ordinance on Friday that online games banned in the state , with a fine of up to 5,000 rupees and a prison term of up to six months.
What constitutes online gaming and betting?
The earliest versions of community games were arcades, which were very popular in the US and Japan in the early 1990s. These arcades required the player to purchase time in the game with some tokens. From the game room, games moved to home consoles and then personal computers.
With the invention of the Internet and the advent of connectivity to personal computers, these multiplayer games saw players host game parties using local area networks.
With the advent of affordable internet, all arcade-based multiplayer games moved online. These days, although almost all games are played online when the user connects their device to a central server hosted by the game company, most of them are free and intended for entertainment only.
Multiplayer games like Defense of the Ancients or Dota, Players Unknown’s Battleground or PUBG, Counter-Strike (CS), although free for most users, give the option to buy in-game additions to the player’s avatar. Other multiplayer card games like Rummy, Blackjack and Poker require the user to invest some money to enter the game and play with other players from around the world.
Why has Tamil Nadu banned online games?
In the ordinance banning gambling, the governor said that due to online gambling, innocent people, mainly young people, are being cheated and some people have committed suicide. Therefore, the state has decided to ban online games to “prevent such suicidal incidents and protect innocent people from the evils of online games.”
Any form of gambling or gambling in cyberspace through the use of computers or any other communication device, common gambling houses and any electronic transfer of funds to distribute winnings or cash prizes has also been prohibited.
This effectively means that players in the state will not be able to purchase any add-ons for the games they play, go to arcades, or participate in online gaming tournaments. Some multiplayer games, such as Counter-Strike, host weekly tournaments with a buy-in of up to Rs 10,000. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
While there has been some debate as to whether online gaming is a matter of sheer luck or skill, the arrival of money has made things even more complicated. Most adversaries of online games and gambling have said that since there are no regulations, most players end up spending a lot of money to buy tickets to these games.
Critics have also said that since these games are also played by children of all ages, the lack of money to buy these add-ons creates different types of peer pressure, leading to unpleasant circumstances.
What other states have banned online gambling and gambling?
While gambling and gambling as a sport are banned across the country, nearly ten Indian states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, and West Bengal have their lottery systems . These lotteries have very strict controls on the amount of tickets printed and the prize money distributed.
Most states, however, are opposed to online gambling or betting, as there are very few regulations to control the number of players and the investment that can be made in the game. In banning online gambling and gambling, Tamil Nadu joined its neighbors Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in banning some forms of online gambling and gambling. The state’s neighbor on the other side, Karnataka, has also been mulling over a law to ban online gambling and gaming.
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