Legislation to ban online games like rummy, poker soon: Tamil Nadu law minister

A day after the Madras High Court struck down a recent amendment made to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, passed in 1930, which imposed a ban on online games with stakes like rummy and poker, the Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Ragupathy said a new legislation will be passed to ban the games in the state.

In a statement, Ragupathy said, “Following the demand of DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin, the then ruling AIADMK government urgently enacted an amendment to the Act on November 21, 2020 to ban the online rummy game.”

He added, “Although the government puts forth its views on the ban of online games, the High Court had said that the government did not specify enough reasons when the law was made and without formalising the rules, online gaming can’t be banned.”