Karnataka officials are studying to enact new regulations for online gambling, reveals home minister

Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has stated that the state is studying the details before enacting fool-proof regulations for online gambling.

With so many petitions filed in many courts across the country and with many states already acting against the online real-money gaming companies, there has been a cloud of uncertainty regarding the gambling problem in India. Karnataka, despite being one of the hubs for real-money gaming companies, is yet to come up with regulation, but that might change soon.

“Online gambling is on the rise everywhere and people are increasingly falling prey to it. We need a stringent law to curb it. Some states have already taken steps to address the problem. Our officers in the Home Department are studying the laws in force there and the measures taken to tackle this.

“They will visit a couple of more States shortly. Incorporating the best things in practice, we will prepare a draft bill and present it in the legislature,” Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said at Kalaburagi Airport on Tuesday.

Recently, the Karnataka High Court, on Wednesday, has directed the state government to finalize the representation made regarding the ban on all forms of online betting and gambling in the state. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj said that for the state government, taking a stance has become mandatory.

"In the light of the representation in terms of Annexure A, the state government will have to take a stand about action, if any they propose to take in the subject matter. To enable the state government to take a stand we adjourn the petition till June 1. The decision taken by the state government shall be placed on record in the form of objections by May 27."