TN online gambling ban: 3-month jail for gamblers; 3-yr imprisonment and ₹10 lakh fine for companies
Those who make or cause to make advertisements in any media would face punishment which includes imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine that may extend to Rs 5 lakh or both, said the gazette notification.
CHENNAI: Any person indulging in online gambling or even online games of chance with money or other stakes would be punished with imprisonment for a term that may extend up to three months or a fine of up to Rs 5,000 or both. Repeated offenders will get increased jail terms and fines.
ये à¤à¥€ पà¥�ें- Guv Ravi gives assent to Bill banning Online Gambling
These punishments were spelt out by the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation Act, 2022, which was published in the gazette. The Act is mainly aimed at cracking down on online games of chance like rummy and poker, which has led to nearly 50 deaths by suicide in Tamil Nadu.
Those who make or cause to make advertisements in any media would face punishment which includes imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine that may extend to Rs 5 lakh or both, said the gazette notification.
The punishments are more stringent for those who provide online gambling services, or games of poker and rummy with money, or other stakes. They would face imprisonment for a term that may extend up to three years, or a fine that may extend to Rs 10 lakh or both.
The Act is meant to deal with local (meaning the service is hosted within Tamil Nadu) and non-local (service hosted outside the State) online game providers.
The online games provider should neither allow nor cause to be allowed to play any online game in contravention of the regulations.
No non-local online game provider should provide any online gambling services and should inform prospective customers that Tamil Nadu has prohibited online gambling and requires the customers to provide personnel details sufficient to establish that they are not physically present in the State.
According to a senior police officer, the cybercrime sleuths of the State police have already started collecting details of the offices of companies that deal with online gambling and functioning in Tamil Nadu. This data would be handed over to the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority, which will have the powers to perform functions assigned under the Act.
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