Tamil Nadu govt forms committee to promulgate ordinance on online rummy

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced setting up a four-member

committee

led by former judge of the Madras high court

Justice K Chandru

to give recommendations in two weeks for promulgation of an

ordinance

on

online rummy

.


A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister M K Stalin at the secretariat on Thursday. The members of the committee include IIT expert Sankararaman, SNEHA founder and psychiatrist Lakshmi Vijayakumar and additional DGP Vinit Dev Wankhede.

The terms of reference for the committee include finding out the potential risks of the online game such as financial loss and suicide, exploring the dangers of these games with relevant data, the impact of advertising on the community and how to restrain it appropriately.

“The committee will submit the recommendations in two weeks. An ordinance will be promulgated to resolve this social problem based on the recommendations of the committee. It will be a model legislation to other states as well,” the release said.

In the wake of the rise in the number of internet users, there was a spurt in online gaming which resulted in the previous AIADMK regime enacting the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act in February 2021, which banned online games, involving wagering or betting in cyberspace. The Madras high court struck down the law in August. Subsequently, the DMK government moved the Supreme Court in November challenging the HC order. However, the petition is yet to be taken up for hearing.

The high courts of Kerala and Karnataka had already struck down the legislations of the respective state governments against online rummy.


“Tamil Nadu continues to witness suicides after the individuals fell prey to the online games and lost money,” the release said.

The state government’s announcement of the committee comes on a day when the PMK led by its president Anbumani Ramadoss staged a protest in Chennai, urging the government to enact a law against online gambling in the wake of a woman in Chennai died by suicide recently after losing her money in online rummy.


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