Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Friday, October 7, gave his assent to an ordinance to prohibit online gambling and regulate online games in Tamil Nadu. The decision to bring an ordinance curing online gambling was taken after Tamil Nadu reported series of suicides by people who lost huge amount of money.

The Tamil Nadu government had constituted a committee led by retired Madras High Court Justice K Chandru to study the adverse effects of online gambling and its impact. The Committee had submitted its report to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on June 27, 2022, and the report was tabled in the state Cabinet on September 26. The Cabinet took up the draft ordinance for discussion after obtaining the requisite information from the School Education Department on the impact of online gaming on students, said an official release. “The School Education Department provided the feedback after conducting a survey from the general public via e-mail and holding a consultation with stakeholders. Based on the opinion from the Law Department, the draft ordinance was prepared on August 29,2022,” the release said.

The 71-page report strongly advised the government to enact a fresh legislation on online games. After considering the recommendations made by Justice K Chandru Committee the Tamil Nadu government had decided to bring an ordinance banning online gambling and regulating online games.

More than 22 people have lost their lives in Tamil Nadu after losing huge sums of money in online gambling in various parts of the state. In the latest such incident, a woman named Bhavani from Chennai died by suicide after she lost around 20 sovereigns of jewellery and Rs 3 lakh in online gambling. Several political parties in Tamil Nadu too had urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to look into the issue as online gambling affects mental health and has left many families in financial distress.

Read: Young Chennai woman dies by suicide after losing money in online gambling