In the midst of distressing events of deaths caused due to online games and gambling, the Tamil Nadu-ruling DMK government has passed a bill to ban online gambling in the state. The bill was passed on Wednesday - October 19 in the assembly after it was tabled and presented by the state law minister S Ragupathy. The bill will also focus on regulating such online games. 

The legislation - 'The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, 2022, was passed after Governor RN Ravi gave his consent to an ordinance to curb online gambling and to introduce regulations to control the spread of digital menace. According to reports, the decision to ban online gambling was taken after the state witnessed a series of suicides of people who lost money after getting into online gambling. 

The DMK government had earlier passed a resolution to ban online gambling and it decided to table the bill to ban online gambling in the assembly based on the report submitted by the panel chaired by retired High Court Justice K Chandru. The Committee submitted a 71-page report to Chief Minister MK Stalin this June and the state cabinet decided to approve an ordinance based on the report in September. 

In his report, justice Chandru has strongly instructed the government to pass fresh legislation on online games. Tamil Nadu has recorded over 22 deaths due to online gambling in recent times as these people had committed suicide after losing more money. Recently, Bhavani, a Chennai-based woman, died of suicide after she lost around 20 sovereigns of jewellery and Rs 3 lakh in online gambling.