This is a very disappointing development. We reached out to the Tamil Nadu government and proposed regulation as a significantly better alternative to a ban. The regulation would protect players and also generate meaningful revenues for the state. TORF has worked over the last two years to set up a self-regulatory framework in the form of a Code of Conduct based on similar regulatory frameworks in regulated markets internationally.
All leading online rummy operators currently follow this code of conduct and are audited for it by one of the big 4 auditing firms. We have communicated this to the government, and so the government had a strong baseline to start with. A ban will result in legitimate and responsible operators leaving the market while the unscrupulous and illegal operators will continue to stay in the market exploiting vulnerable players in the state.
The gaming law of Tamil Nadu pre the ordinance made a clear exemption for games of skill. In addition, the Supreme Court of India has clearly stated that betting and wagering on games of skill is not gambling.
Further, the Supreme Court has stated that games of skill are business activities protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the constitution. It is this clarity in law that brought significant foreign investment into the skill gaming space which is generating over Rs. 1,500 crores in GST revenue every year and could be generating over Rs. 10,000 crores in GST revenues by 2025.
Direct employment because of the skill gaming space is in the thousands and indirect employment in the tens of thousands. This ordinance is a very bad signal to foreign investors that have invested close to half a billion dollars in the skill gaming space in India, and care deeply about a stable regulatory environment.
