Gambling ban: Chance and skill draw dividing line

CHENNAI: The ordinance differentiates online games into online games of chance and online games of skills. While there is no regulation for online games of skills, the State intends to regulate online games of chance. It defines the online game of chance as a game that “involves both an element of chance and an element of skill and the element of chance dominates over the element of skill and the game that is presented as involving an element of chance.”

The games that involve cards, dice, wheel or such other device, which works on random or event generators are termed online games of chance. While the State imposed a blanket ban on online gambling, it intends to regulate online games of chance stating “no online games provider shall provide any online game of chance with money or other stakes”.

The ordinance also bans banks, financial institutions or payment gateways from engaging in any transaction or authorisation of funds towards payment for any online gambling or game of chance.

The ordinance also distinguishes local and non-local game providers. Local online games provider is a company that has its central management and control of the service in the state and whose services are available for access by the customers, is hosted in Tamil Nadu.

The non-local games providers, when compared to the local games providers, have an additional burden of verifying whether the customers are based in Tamil Nadu or other parts of the country by obtaining their details.