AIGF Wants Framework to Curb ‘Menace of Offshore Gambling’

All-India Gaming Federation wants a national framework. This is to control offshore gambling platforms. These platforms operate outside India. Karnataka plans an online gaming regulatory authority. AIGF supports this but wants more action. They see offshore gambling as a national security threat. Karnataka's bill bans betting on games of chance. It exempts licensed skill-based games.

The All-India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has called for a national framework to curb the “menace of offshore gambling platforms” that operate beyond India’s jurisdiction while hailing Karnataka’s plans to set up an online gaming and betting regulatory authority.The southern state has planned to move a bill in the upcoming session of the legislature to amend the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, to set up the authority and define its role.

“While we applaud the state government’s initiative, we also believe that state-level laws alone may not be sufficient to curb the growing menace of offshore gambling platforms, which operate beyond India’s jurisdiction, offer no consumer recourse and are emerging as one of the biggest national security threats,” Roland Landers, CEO of AIGF, said in a statement.

The state government has proposed an authority to oversee, regulate and enforce the law banning betting in online games of chance. The amendment seeks to prohibit all forms of online betting, wagering, or gambling involving games of chance, including the use of money, tokens, virtual currency, or electronic funds. The bill, however, exempts games of skill from the prohibition, operated by licensed firms.

Credit: ET Brand Equity