INDIAN GAMING STATESIDE Goa prepares to ban locals from casinos
Three years after Goa appointed a dedicated Gaming Commissioner to oversee the state’s casinos, official rules designed to streamline and regulate casino operations are finally ready for approval according to a report by the Times of India. The Home Department has now finalized
its casino rules and submitted them to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for final approval – a significant step forward in regulating the casino industry. Despite appointing the Gaming
Commissioner more than three years ago in March 2019, the absence of any framed rules has until now meant that his duties were not defined. The rules are necessary to implement the controversial ban on locals from entering the casinos. The Bombay High Court in October last year had upheld the ban on locals. Once approved, the gaming commissioner under the Goa Public Gambling (Amendment) Act, 2012 will assume full
Aleksandr Kurganov/Adobe Stock
control over Goa’s casino operations, including its six offshore casinos, including licensing, tax collection, and the issuance of entry tickets to customers and what games can be offered. He will also have the ability to seal casinos for violations. In October, agreeing with the arguments of
the State, the division bench of Bombay High Court held that the classification of goans and non-residents under the 2012 law is justifiable. “So far as the restriction on entry into casinos to the persons domiciled or
permanent residents of Goa as against the permitting entry to tourists and tourist permit holders, is justifiable for the reasons advanced by the State of Goa. Based on such reasons a valid classification has been made and such classification has rational nexus with the object that the law seeks to achieve,” reads the judgement. The Court also held that game activities on casinos are like gambling and cannot be termed as trade or business activity for protection under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution that deals with freedom to practice any trade or profession. “It is in the public interest of residents of
Goa so also in the interest of State for the justifiable reasons. Thus, the decision to prohibit entry for the persons other than the tourist which excludes persons domiciled or permanent residents of Goa is a conscious decision of the State, considering its evil consequences on its subject,” reads the judgement delivered in October.
Meghalaya minister: legalised gambling not for locals
Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister James P.K. Sangma said the new Meghalaya gaming laws are not for the locals to gamble. “We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licences to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” he told journalists in the State capital Shillong on Thursday. Legalised gambling, he said, would help
generate employment opportunities, besides boosting tourism. “But the legalised gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” Mr Sangma added. But locals will be allowed to ‘teer’ that
marries betting with the indigenous sport of arrow-shooting. This traditional form of gambling is regulated under the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018 is exempted from the new gaming law. ‘Teer’ involves shooting a volley of arrows in 10 minutes by about 20 archers squatting in a semicircle. Tourists and visitors for work or
business would be allowed to participate in such activities only after producing documents similar to what banks require
for KYC (know your customer). The ban on locals is something like the proposed ban by Goa which was upheld by the Bombay High Court in October last year. Mr Sangma was recently at ICE London, a
multi-day conference for gaming professionals to promote the opportunities offered by Meghalaya. Coming to online games, they can be
played through intranet (terminals) which cannot traverse outside the State of Meghalaya. This is similar to the system currently offered in Sikkim. Only persons above 18 are allowed to play and operators cannot accept any payment above INR 25,000 in cash. A recent report by the UK India Business
Council (UKIBC) found Meghalaya to be the most gaming-friendly State in India. The index measures the extent to which each State has legalised gaming and betting based on their stance on seven different games – lottery, horse racing, sports betting, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports. Meghalaya scored 92.85 (on a scale of 0 to 100 where 100 is fully legalised) with licences applicable in all seven games. Mr. James Sangma said the government
had not signed any agreement for opening casinos in the State. Meghalaya CM Conrad
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Sangma earlier this month announced that provisional licenses under the Meghalaya Gaming Regulation were issued to three gaming operators. The Chief Minister was speaking at the inaugural address of the AIGF Knowledge Series.
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