The Odisha High Court, on November 16, has given notification to the State of Odisha looking for a reaction to an appeal that challenges the constitutional validity of the Odisha Prevention of Gambling Act, 1955, reported LiveLaw. The case is the freshest in a line of fights gaming firms in India are battling against different states. 

The Odisha Prevention of Gambling Act, 1955 bans gaming for money or different stakes by which an individual purposefully uncovered money and appears the danger of misfortune by some coincidence. The request was filed by online gaming organization Tic Tok Skill Games Pvt. Ltd, which works on social gaming platform WinZO Games. 

In its appeal, Tic Tok Skill Games Pvt Ltd contended that the Act “is violative of Article 14 (of the Act) as it resists the idea of reasonableness and non-arbitrariness.” 

Real money gaming platforms have seen gigantic development as far as user base and income, particularly after the pandemic-instigated shift to remote work and learning. 

Paytm First Games announced a 200% development in user base and a 4-time expansion in gameplays in the principal half of 2020. Similarly, WinZO saw a 30% leap in traffic and a 3-time expansion in gameplay after lockdown, as indicated by information shared by the two organizations last year.

Gaming firms versus States 

And yet, real money gaming has gotten reaction from officials in a few Indian states, who feel these platforms promote betting and may prompt compulsion. This was likewise set off by certain occurrences of suicide because of monetary misfortunes caused by online gaming platforms. 

These gaming platforms are presently prohibited in the state of Odisha, Gujarat, Telangana and Karnataka. Betting is a state subject in India, so states do have the power to manage betting as they see fit. 

A portion of these sweeping boycotts has been challenged effectively by real money gaming platforms in courts. For example, in August 2021, Madras High Court struck down the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021, which restricted online wagering games including rummy and poker. The petition was filed by a gathering of firms that included Junglee Games India Private Ltd) and the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF). The Tamil Nadu government moved the Supreme Court against this judgment on November 16. 

In September, the Kerala high court likewise chose to subdue an amendment in Section 14A of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960, which looked to boycott online rummy in Kerala. 

The court was hearing petitions by Junglee Games India Pvt. Ltd, Play Games 24×7 Pvt. Ltd, Head Digital Works Pvt. Ltd, and Gameskraft Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Indeed, even as these decisions came out, in September, Karnataka likewise passed an enactment that makes all types of betting, including online betting, a cognizable and non-bailable offense.

At that point, the AIGF called the new guidelines profoundly regressive in nature and an enormous misfortune to Karnataka’s standing as a technology center. 

Real money gaming platforms have repeated that the games they offer empower and test members’ skills. The difference between skill gaming and betting has been a subject of conflict throughout the long term. 

For example, on account of R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala versus Union of India (1957), the Supreme court said games, where a specific degree of skill is involved, can’t be marked as betting. 

In the State of Andhra Pradesh versus K. Satyanarayana (1968), the Apex Court decided that rummy included the impressive skill and can’t be known as the game of chance. 

Likewise in K.R. Lakshmanan versus the State of Tamil Nadu (1996), the summit court decided that horse racing was a game of skill. 

In 2015, the summit court because of another appeal held the past decisions and considered online rummy a game of skill.

Credit: Techcircle