The Tamil Nadu government has constituted the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority, four months after the Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 was enacted. The gaming authority comprises five members, with retired IAS officer Md Nasimuddin as the chairperson. The Act came into force on April 21 this year, with Governor RN Ravi giving his assent to the legislation after it was tabled in the Assembly multiple times. The Governor’s meeting with representatives of the E-Gaming Federation (EGF) when the Bill was pending with him evoked criticism last year.
The other members of the committee are retired IPS officer MC Sarangan, retired professor of Guindy College of Engineering C Chellappan, retired clinical psychologist from Sri Ramachandra Medical College O Raveendran and founder and CEO of In-Gage Group, Vijay Karunakaran. The authority was formed as per section 3 of the Act.
The functions of the authority are listed under section 4 of the act. The authority shall regulate online games, as well as provide registration certificates to local online game providers. It will also oversee the functioning of the online games providers in the state, and collect and maintain information and data with regard to the activities of the online game providers.
The members are also responsible for resolving grievances or complaints received against any online games provider and sending periodic reports to the government on the matter. They will also be identifying games and recommending them to be included in the ‘schedule’ of banned games.
The authority is also empowered to obtain any information from any online games provider or online game player, and also to issue summons to any person, receive oral or written evidence on affidavits, and enforce the attendance of any person.