India: former chief minister urges Puducherry to ban online gambling

V. Narayanasamy says the government should act on its promise to pass legislation.

India.- Former chief minister V. Narayanasamy is urging the National Democratic Alliance government of the Union Territory of Puducherry to ban online gambling. At a press conference, Narayanasamy said online gambling was causing financial difficulty for people in Puducherry and said the government had promised legislation to ban it.

He said: “Home Minister Namassivayam himself assured to bring legislation but nothing concrete has happened. Probably, the government did not want to act as several ruling party legislators are involved in the online gambling business.

It is spoiling the lives of several families so government should immediately bring out an ordinance and then introduce a bill in the Assembly.”

Other Indian jurisdictions, including the state of Tamil Nadu, have banned online gambling.

Survey finds 65% of Indians view fantasy sports as gambling

A survey conducted by the social media platform LocalCircle has revealed that almost 65 per cent out of 9,507 respondents believe online fantasy sports is similar to gambling. Meanwhile, 74 per cent out of 12,602 people believe that the loss limit per game for fantasy sports should be Rs50-1,000.

LocalCircles asked respondents, “Should online fantasy sports be considered as online gaming that involves wagering, betting and gambling?” Almost two-thirds of respondents (65 per cent) selected “yes”, 14 per cent answered “no”, and the remaining 21 per cent did not give a clear answer.

The results contrast with the treatment of fantasy sports as games of skill rather than games of chance as upheld by Supreme Court decisions.

To date, apart from the Supreme Court’s precedent on skill-based gambling, there is no federal statute to govern India’s gambling industry, with each state taking its own stance on the issue.