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Penalty Sections Amended In Goa Public Gambling Act

The small coastal state updated the punishments in its Gaming Law and took care to remove some obsolete phrases, yet no attention was paid to the reality of online gambling.

Violations will be Punished by Heavier Fines

The Legislative Assembly of the state of Goa on July 30 passed the Goa Public Gambling (Amendment) Act (Bill No. 42 of 2021) which came into force at once. The financial sanctions for keeping a gaming house (Section 3), for being found in one (Section 4), and for gambling or setting bird or animal fights in public spaces (Section 11) were raised.

Previously, the state’s Gambling Law punished said offences by both imprisonment and a monetary penalty. Now, corrective measures can be either a custodial sentence, or a fine, or both. Terms of imprisonment stay the same as determined by previous Amendment Act 25 of 2003, but minimal and maximal fines are increased with ₹ 2,000 everywhere.

The only exceptions are in Section 4, sub-section (1) (a) and (b) which deal with first and second offences respectively. In the first instance, the minimum fine is raised from ₹ 1,500 to ₹ 4,000, and financial sanctions for second offences are increased with ₹ 2,500 to ₹ 5,500.

The most substantial relative raise is in the minimal penalties for first offences. This is especially true concerning the ‘very nominal’ as per a senior official’s words fines in Section 3 and Section 11 which were one thousand rupees, and now are tripled. Maximum penalties under the act are increased to ₹ 7,000 from the previous five thousand rupees.

According to a note from Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant’s government, “The quantum of fine payable under the penal provisions of Sections 3, 4 and 11, being meager, needs enhancement. And on account of the same, the offenses punishable under the said sections will be either imprisonment or fine or both”.

The Amendment Bill of 2021 also deals with removing the redundant expressions “Union Territory” and “Daman and Diu” from the act. The law was first adopted in 1976 when Goa was part of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu. On May 30, 1987, Goa has conferred a Statehood, and Daman and Diu became a separate Union Territory.

Goa Allows for a Variety of Legal Ways to Place a Bet

The small coastal state of Goa is one of the very few states or territories of the Union, together with Sikkim and Daman, which have a licensing regime to permit brick-and-mortar (or vessel) casinos to operate. In March 2021, the state of Meghalaya joined this exclusive group and adopted its own Gambling Act regulating both offline and online gambling, but no casino licenses have been issued so far.

The state of Nagaland also allows online games of skill via the Nagaland Online Games of Skill Act, 2016. As per the Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill Act, 2016, licenses can be obtained even by operators outside of Nagaland, subject to the observation of certain rules.

Goa is not only one of the 13 states in India that allow and organizes lotteries but is perhaps the state offering the biggest number of drawings on the whole Subcontinent. The Directorate of Small Savings and Lotteries runs up to 4-5 daily draws (Labhalxmi, Rajshree, and Golden Dhanlaxmi), together with a monthly Baisakhi lottery called Golden Gudipadwa and Bumper draws on holiday and festival occasions.

Illegal Gambling Still a Problem for the State

Every eighth Goan man, or 12.5 per cent of the state’s adult male population, plays illegal Matka more than once a month and up to three times per week according to a study published in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry in 2019. The study was implemented by a non-governmental organization (NGO) Sangath on 1514 male respondents in the coastal state using a structured questionnaire aimed at determining the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of gambling.

Almost half (49.9 percent) of all participants responded to having gambled at least once in their lifetime, and 45.4 percent admitted to having engaged in such activity within the last year. The study established a correlation between gambling and work-related problems, interpersonal violence, tobacco use, and alcohol use disorders (AUD) to a varying degree.

Illegal Gaming is Changing Patterns

Since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns started, illegal Matka bookies have been adapting their ‘business model’ moving on to online schemes.

In the end of May, a Margao police patrol unit searched a location at the Gandhi market on the suspicion of a Covid-19 curfew breach. The law enforcement team led by South Goa SP Pankaj Kumar Singh arrested 11 people and confiscated ₹ 80.000 in cash together with 11 computer configurations and additional hardware with a total worth of ₹ 3,10,000. A resident of Housing Board, Cogol, Margao was caught in the act of organizing online roulette, a game of chance.

While visiting online roulette sites where you can play online roulette for real money, is perfectly legal and safe since Goa’s legislation does not treat online gambling, such organized online gambling dens constitute ‘gaming houses’ in the sense of Sections 3 and 4 of the Goa Public Gaming Act.

A Possible Solution

The eventual regulation of online casinos by the Goa legislative body based on positive examples from the UK, the Scandinavian and other countries would work towards solving the problems associated with gambling while still exploiting the benefits.

Studies have shown that the online realm provides a much easier environment for the regulation and implementation of safety systems targeted at vulnerable players. An index of harm can be established with proportional mitigation mechanisms.

Besides public health protection, leading experience on the regulation of online gambling in well-developed countries has shown that all negative or negatively perceived effects, including organized crime manifestations, lose their aggressive edge with time.

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