The 'Online' Gambling Prohibition Bill will empower the law to impose a jail term of upto three months or a fine of upto Rs. 5,000, or a combination of both for a person who indulges in an online game with money or other betting materials.
Chennai: In Tamil Nadu, the number of people committing suicide after losing money due to online gambling has been on the rise daily.
Young people who lose money because of their infatuation with online gambling sometimes end their lives owing to a bad decision, out of sheer frustration and desperation. The demand for a ban on online gambling in Tamil Nadu has been put forward for a long time.
On June 6, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin chaired a meeting at the Secretariat. Later, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister announced in the Assembly session that a law will be enacted to ban online gambling. Accordingly, a Committee headed by former High Court judge Justice K Chandru was constituted to advise the Government on enacting a new law to curb online gambling.
The Committee prepared a draft law in consultation with the Law Department on the basis of the feedback received through e-mail from the public and a consultative meeting was held with the stakeholders. The Committee submitted its report on June 27.
An ordinance on the ban on online gambling was prepared. It was approved by the Cabinet in its meeting held on September 26. The ordinance was then sent to the Governor for his assent. Following this, Governor R.N. Chandrasekhar Rao passed an ordinance banning online gambling games on August 9. Ravi gave his consent.
In the three-day-long Assembly session, the bills banning Online Gambling were passed.
The 'Online' Gambling Prohibition Bill states:
1. The law imposes a jail term of upto three months or a fine of upto Rs. 5,000, or a combination of both for a person who indulges in an online game with money or other betting materials.
2. A person who is responsible for advertising or advertising in the media about online gambling will be punished with imprisonment of upto one year or a fine of upto Rs. 5 lakh or both.
3. According to the Online Gambling Prohibition Bill, the Act provides for a jail term of upto three years or a fine of upto Rs. 10 lakh or a combination of both for a person providing service to Online Gambling.
The Online Gambling Prohibition Bill aims to ensure that there will be no more human losses due to monetary losses.