Time to Regulate Online Gamblers!

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on 3 November 2020 issued a notice to Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly for endorsing fantasy cricket apps. It is found out that more than 50% of the commercial time on live TV during the ongoing T20 cricket league, IPL is for promotion of fantasy cricket apps. The Madras High Court had expressed its anguish that several celebrities like Ganguly and Kohli are endorsing such advertisements that are potential death traps for many. Many people are driven to commit suicide because they lost money by indulging in online gambling and actively betting on the apps endorsed by these celebrity cricket icons. 

Online Betting Legality: States in India are entitled to formulate their own laws for gambling activities. Some states like Goa have legalized casinos. However, common gambling activities are restricted across India except for selective categories including lotteries and horse racing. 

Gambling leads to crime, corruption and money laundering. However, proponents of regulated gambling argue that it can be a huge revenue for the state. Casinos in Goa contribute to hundreds of crores to the state exchequer. 

The Public Gambling Act, 1867: The outdated The Public Gambling Act, 1867 of the Central Government regulate gambling across the country. Few states like, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab etc have adopted this law. Few other states like Goa, Sikkim, Daman have their own laws to regulate the gambling. The Public Gambling Act, 1867, prohibits a public gambling house. There is also a small penal provision of Rs. 200 or imprisonment of up to 3 months for breach of this law. If a person visits the public gambling houses, he will be penalized Rs. 100 or imprisonment of up to one month. The state legislations have been enacted prior to the new online gambling that is getting prominence in the 21st century. Hence, these laws are only with respect to the physical premises of gambling. However, it is to be noted that Sikkim and Nagaland are the only two states which have introduced laws pertaining to online gambling. 

Online Gambling Vrs Physical Gambling: The Information Technology Act 2000, regulates cyber activities in India and does not mention the word Gambling or Betting. This has helped in shrewd attorneys interpreting the laws in their own favour. However, it is to be noted that in Maharashtra online gambling is banned under the Bombay Wager Act. 

In the USA they have American Internet Gambling Prohibition Act which prohibits online gambling. In India, since, online gambling is in its infancy stage, there are no such laws which are framed to prohibit online gambling. In India, The Public Gambling Act, 1867 though prohibits all forms of gambling, is insufficient to tackle the new age online gambling.

Game of Skill Vrs Game of Chance: The Supreme court has segregated games into two parts - the "game of skill" and the "game of chance". Any game which is clubbed under the game of chance is regarded as gambling. The game of Rummy is not entirely a game of chance. The game of Rummy mainly tests the skill of a person and hence it is regarded as a game of skill. The "three-card" game is purely a game of chance and hence the courts have regarded it as a gambling. Much to the relief of punters, The Supreme Court had said that horse racing is more of a game of skill than the game of chance. This has brought relief to many punters who spend a lot of time in this "game of skill". 

Hosting of online gambling apps: Most of the online hosting apps are hosted in the servers of the countries which encourage betting or gambling in some form or other. Hence, even if we have an online gambling act, the enforceability will be a big challenge for the authorities. It will become difficult to regulate an Indian citizen who decides to place bets on online websites which are hosted from servers abroad. 

Madras High Court Judgement: The Madras High Court was sceptical when it asked the police how they punish the gamblers sitting under a tree and gamble while it conveniently ignores online gambling and games mushrooming across the country. The High Court further felt that country lacks a legislative framework to deal with online gambling and hoped that a comprehensive regulatory framework to regulate the online gambling would be implemented soon. The High court decision to issue a notice to Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly is a small but a major step in the direction of regulating the online gambling. It is time we regulators bring in laws to tame online gamblers and punters and bring them to book.