Sikkim Government Puts Online Gaming On Hold, Seeks Amendment to Laws

In a blow to regulated gaming, the Sikkim Government has now backtracked on its earlier nod to online operators. As per the latest release by Jay Sayta of Glaws.in, the Sikkim govt has now informed the three license holders, Playwin, Maarm International and Future Gaming to withhold operations, as the govt was looking at making amendments to its existing gaming laws.

PokerGuru had informed our readers in April about Sikkim govt issuing the third license to Playwin Lotteries, run by M/s Pan India Network Ltd. The licenses had been issued on the condition that the operators would use intranet and restrict the games only within the state of Sikkim.

This intranet clause has now become the chief issue for prompting the govt towards amending laws. In an interview to Glaws.in, KP Sharma, Director Sikkim Lotteries confirmed the news and stated that the existing Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act, 2008 and rules framed there under needed to be updated to be in line with the current permanent or ‘go live’ licenses issued.

Sharma said, “There are a couple of legislative changes required to the present framework, the most important change being the intranet condition. I do not know as to when the amendments to the Act and Rules will be passed and notified, it may probably be in July. We (the lotteries department) are waiting for instructions from the Sikkim government and will act accordingly. I am not sure about when exactly the license holders will be able to start operations.”

The issued “go live” licenses are directly conflicting with the Sikkim Act and Rules, which uses terms like “website” “url” and internet for gaming activities.

As of now, the operators have been waiting since six years to begin online offerings and the future is still uncertain. The constant dithering of the govt has led to a lot of revenue losses already, according to those in the know.