Kerala Govt mulls laws to free gamers from predatory clutches of online rummy

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is considering amending laws to regulate online games in the wake of increasing incidents of people committing suicides after being exposed to the games like rummy, thereby the huge financial liability on them.

The online rummy is being aggressively promoted where celebrities do their part to attract people into playing the card game online.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said in the state assembly that the government was considering bringing in the amendment subject to the outcome of its appeal in the Kerala High Court against a single judge order, quashing the ban on online rummy games played for money.

However, till that happens, various state departments, including the police, are conducting awareness programs in schools and colleges.

Besides that, a social policing system, various schemes of student police cadets and awareness campaigns through the media are also being implemented to prevent people from being addicted to such games, Vijayan said on Tuesday.

The CM was responding to a submission by UDF MLA A P Anilkumar that online rummy games played for money should be banned or restricted as it has allegedly pushed many in the state into a financial burden and led others to commit suicide.

Vijayan said that online gaming sites make it easy for anyone, including children, to open an account to play such games and people are lured through offers of huge prize money and other attractive prizes.

The modus operandi of such sites is to first offer freebies to make people addicted to such games, and thereafter, motivate them to play more and spend more money.

As people get hooked to the games they have no clue whom they are playing against and there are reports that artificial intelligence-based programs are often playing on the other side.

With an increase in popularity of online games like rummy, there has also been a rise in mobile apps offering loans as well as online loan advertisements and those who lose money on the games take loans to continue playing and it turns into a vicious cycle which allegedly leads them to financial ruin, the CM noted.

The massive advertisement campaigns, especially using celebrities, are also not helping to keep people away from such games, he said and added that the fact some celebs are ready to withdraw from such advertisements was exemplary.

The state government had amended the Kerala Gaming Act of 1960 in February last year to ban online rummy games played for money, but the same was quashed by the High Court in September 2021 on pleas moved by gaming companies.

The appeal against the single judge decision is pending before a division bench.

As there is currently no ban on online rummy, police are taking strong action against frauds and other cybercrimes in the name of online rummy games in accordance with the existing laws, he added.

PTI Input