Authorities in Puducherry propose bill to ban online gambling

Public works minister K Lakshminarayanan announced that the law department has prepared a draft bill.

India.- The Puducherry government is proposing to pass a bill that would ban online gambling in the union territory. Public works minister K Lakshminarayanan says the law department has prepared a draft bill entitled the Puducherry Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill 2023, which has been submitted to the home department.

Lakshminarayanan said the draft bill is pending approval from the finance department to ascertain any financial implications, after which it will be presented to the council of ministers and union government for approval. If the bill is passed, Puducherry will join a growing list of states in India that have banned online gambling

Lakshminarayanan said that while ‘betting and gambling’ comes under the state list under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India, ‘online gaming’ falls under the Union electronic and information technology.

Opposition leader R Siva had tabled a call attention motion to ban online gambling in the Puducherry legislative assembly. Former chief minister V. Narayanasamy had also urged the National Democratic Alliance government to ban online gambling. 

According to the Times of India, Lakshminarayanan emphasised that the Puducherry government is committed to preventing illegal activities and protecting people’s welfare, especially young people, from the adverse effects of online gambling.

The proposal to ban online gambling in Puducherry comes after Tamil Nadu’s government re-enacted a bill banning online gambling. To date, apart from the Supreme Court’s precedent on skill-based gambling, there is no federal statute for gambling in India, with each state taking its own stance on the issue.