Tamil Nadu Proposes Limits on Online Gaming to Combat Addiction

Tamil Nadu is considering passing legislation that places time and usage limits on online and real money gaming, The Economic Times reported. The report suggests that as per internal notes from a meeting conducted by Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority (TNOGA) on May 27, the regulator decided to regulate games without differentiating between online and real money games. Instead, it intends to focus on the time spent on online gaming platforms to address addiction. 

This comes as a result of Tamil Nadu’s Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance 2022, which came into effect in April 2023. The law was introduced in the wake of rising gambling-related suicides in the state and the public outcry resulting from such incidents. It explicitly outlaws online games like rummy and poker, among others, as “games of chance.”  The law was challenged by skill gaming companies at the Madras High Court and in its judgment on the case in November 2023, the court said that the ban would be restricted to games on chance and games of skill like rummy and poker would be left outside its scope. The state government then took the case to the Supreme Court, where it is still pending hearing.

What is the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority? 

The TNOGA is a five-member body formed under the state’s online gaming law. The TNOGA has the power to: 

• regulate online games (time limit, monetary limit, age restriction or such other restrictions)
• issue certificate of registration to local online games providers
• identify online games of chance
• oversee the functioning of the online game providers in the State
• collect and maintain information and data with regard to the activities of the online game providers.

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