Play Rummy Online

To play rummy online in India is completely legal,. Let’s know more about it.

Since online gaming in India has been a top trend as of recently, it has become necessary to understand whether such games are played legally or risk facing severe consequences. Speaking of legalities, India does not have a unified law that deals with gaming and gambling, both of which are used interchangeably in the laws. Since this is the case, various courts have adopted their own views on dealing with online games. The Supreme Court has held that, under normal circumstances, rummy is a game of skill permitted under gambling law.

Then, what is online gambling? And what’s the difference between Skill games and gambling or gaming?

Gambling/ gaming has been defined by Supreme Court in 1996 as wagering or betting on games of chance only. It specifically excludes games of skill, no matter whether they’re played for money or not. Moreover, the Public Gambling Act, which is the central law on gambling and comprises most states’ laws (including Tamil Nadu and Madras laws), substantially states that nothing in this Act shall apply to games of mere skill wherever played, in 1996 Supreme Court judgement.

What is a game of skill in Indian Law?

Competitions where success depends on substantial degree of ‘skill’ is not considered gambling.
And, despite there being an element of chance, if the game is largely a game of skill, it is a game of ‘skill’.

Is Rummy a game of skill?

1968 Supreme Court ruling stated that rummy is a game of skill.

“Rummy, on the other hand, requires certain amount of skill because the fall of the cards has to be memorised and the building up of Rummy requires considerable skill in holding and discarding cards. We cannot, therefore, say that the game of Rummy is a game of entire chance. It is mainly and preponderantly a game of skill. The chance in Rummy is of the same character as the chance in a deal at a game of bridge.”

In 1996, Supreme Court stated that

“Golf, chess and even Rummy are considered to be games of skill. The Courts have reasoned that there are few games, if any, which consist purely of chance or skill, and as such a game of chance is one in which the element of chance predominates over the element of skill, and a game of skill is one in which the element of skill predominates over the element of chance. It is the dominant element –“skill” or “chance” — which determines the character of the game.”

So we can safely conclude that

Playing games of skill for cash does not constitute gambling.
Games of skill are exempt from the penal provisions of most gambling acts.
Rummy is a game of skill.

It is legal to play rummy online for cash on online Betting sites as long as you are not playing from the states of Assam, Odisha, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland and Sikkim.