Kerala government bans online rummy game
KOCHI: Acting on the directions of the Kerala High Court, state government has banned online rummy by amending the Kerala Gaming Act.
An official notification regarding this was issued ater amending Section 14 A of the Kerala Gaming Act 1960. Last week, the High Court had directed government to take decision on bringing online gambling and online beting within the purview of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960 within two weeks.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Thrissur native Pauly Vadakkan ater many people lost money and one commited suicide ater indulging in online rummy.
As per the existing rule, police can take action against those playing rummy using cards and by pledging cash. But online rummy, which became popular recently, was not identified as illegal under this Act. Using this lacuna, online rummy mobile apps became more popular in the state.
Online rummy gained popularity during the COVID lockdown period. Mobile applications offering loans made easy for interested gamers.
Those who started off investing small amounts later started to put in larger amounts and the ones who lost their money started taking loans. Most of the people who accepted loans via money lending apps were threatened and blackmailed, when they failed to repay.
The money that is loaned at 36 per cent interest rate has to be paid on time.
Experts say that it is usually not humans that play on the opposite side while playing rummy online.
The applications that are built using Artificial Intelligence (AI) identify the patern of play of the individual ater the first phase and then take over the game in the later stages.
Petitioner had alleged brand ambassadors play a significant role in geting youth addicted.
Considering the plea, the High Court had served notices to cricketer Virat Kohli, actors Tamannah Bhatia and Aju Varghese. They are brand ambassadors of online rummy and hence the notice.
The High Court had also issued notices to the state government seeking its response.