The Karnataka government has announced that it will introduce a new law to regulate online betting and gaming.

Home Minister G Parameshwara said a committee of senior officials and industry representatives has been constituted and it has been given a month’s time to submit a draft of the proposed bill.

“I chaired a meeting regarding online betting and gambling yesterday along with the IT Minister. Representatives from the industry were called. There is nothing to regulate them so far. They have agreed to the introduction of a licence system and a regulation as per law,” he said.

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The state government held a high-level meeting to discuss a legal framework for regulating online gaming.

IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said that the intent of the legislation is to curb online gambling, betting and games of chance, and protect consumers from fraud while supporting innovation and the sustainable growth of the skill-based gaming industry.

Karnataka is set to introduce a legal framework to ban gambling while permitting skill-based games following a model similar to that of Chhattisgarh.

Kharge said he held a detailed meeting with the state home minister, senior government officials, members of online gaming federations, and industry experts to discuss the proposed framework.

“The legitimate online skill-based gaming industry in India is a sunrise sector worth USD 4 billion, contributing Rs 12,000 crore in taxes and creating over 1.5 lakh jobs. Karnataka alone accounts for 25 percent of the market and contributes Rs 1350 crore annually in taxes, making it a key hub,” he said.

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The minister also raised concerns over the growing underground market of offshore gambling and illegal betting.

“Alongside the legitimate sector, there is a parallel underground market that is expanding rapidly, posing risks such as predatory money collection practices, dubious shell companies, financial fraud, data breaches, and cybercrimes,” he said.

Kharge also held discussions with representatives of the E-Gaming Federation (EGF), the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) regarding their collaborative “Code of Ethics” for the industry.

BC.GAME, a prominent cryptocurrency entertainment platform, announced the official upgrade of its Telegram group with a new link: https://t.me/bcgame. This shift represents an important step forward for the platform in terms of brand unification, community operations and user identification paths.

BC.GAME, one of the most active platforms in the crypto entertainment market, has a sizable user base spread across channels such as Telegram, Discord and Twitter. The Telegram community alone has millions of members from many critical areas. Behind each time zone, a committed group of gamers and community administrators keeps the community alive by sharing gaming experiences, uploading the most recent event announcements and assisting new users in swiftly integrating into the distinctive “BC community culture”.

Unifying the group link is both a way to make the platform’s design more consistent and a way to improve the user experience. It’s easier and faster for new players to remember t.me/bcgame than any of the other subdomain names. For current players, it means a clearer official entry point, which makes it less likely that they will run into fake groups.

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The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has imposed a fine of €1,200,000 on Techno Offshore Limited for illegally offering gambling via the websites nolimitbet.com and simplecasino.com. Offering online gambling without a license for the Dutch market is prohibited.

These websites did not take sufficient measures to keep Dutch players out. There was also no visible age check upon registration and options such as autoplay and turboplay were available. These types of game options encourage excessive gambling behaviour.

Michel Groothuizen, Chairman of the Dutch Gambling Authority, said: “Licensed providers in the Netherlands must comply with all kinds of rules to protect players from gambling addiction. With illegal providers, we often see that no account is taken of the prevention of risky gaming behavior, for example by not using age verification, enabling payments with crypto or a lack of gaming limits. We take tough action against these types of parties, because they attract players to illegal offerings and players are insufficiently protected there.”

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