Junglee Games, the company behind Junglee Rummy, Junglee Teen Patti, and the fantasy game platform Howzat, is the latest company to file an appeal with the Karnataka High Court, challenging the state’s new online gambling law, which took effect on October 5.
In March of this year, online betting behemoth Flutter Entertainment, which was formed by the merging of Irish bookmaker Paddy Power and gambling corporation Betfair, purchased a majority 50.1 percent share in Junglee Games.
As reported by Moneycontrol on October 8, the company will be joining several real-money gaming companies, including Mobile Premier League (MPL), Games24x7, A23(Ace2Three), and Gameskraft, as well as the skill and gaming industry body All India Gaming Federation, in filing similar petitions against the Karnataka government.
The constitutional legitimacy of revisions to the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, which were purportedly approved by governor Thawar Chand Gehlot earlier this month, has been contested by these corporations. All forms of internet gaming involving the transfer of money were prohibited by the law. The revision was made in response to a public interest lawsuit filed in the Karnataka High Court seeking to ban internet gambling. It did, however, blur the line between a game of skill and a game of chance, bringing skill-based gaming firms under its jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, another public interest lawsuit has been filed in the Karnataka High Court, seeking to outlaw the offering and participation in fantasy sports that are governed by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, a self-regulatory industry entity. Saahil Nalwaya, the petitioner, has also asked for it to be made a criminal offence under the Karnataka Police Act. After the state government notified the online gambling law with immediate effect on October 5, Moneycontrol was the first to report on October 6 that several gaming platforms, including MPL, Games24x7 (RummyCircle, My11Circle), Ace2Three, and RummyCulture, had begun blocking access to residents in Karnataka. Dream11, a popular fantasy sports site, also shut down on October 10.
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Several Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, have outlawed or attempted to ban real-money gaming in the last year. The suspension order was overturned by the Kerala High Court last month after it was set down by the Madras High Court in August. In July of this year, the Supreme Court established fantasy sports as a skill game.
According to an EY-All India Gaming Federation research, India had over 80 million real money gamers in 2020, with that number predicted to rise to 150 million by 2023. The report said that rake fees received will be worth $2 billion by 2023.
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