Is Rummy Game Legal in India? Latest Updates & Announcements

Card games have always been popular in Indian households for decades. However, as time changed, the rules and legality of rummy has come into question in modern India. While free games can be played anywhere and does not concern the legal institutions, cash games of rummy have been in troubled waters in the eyes of the judiciary and the government.

However, before answering the question whether rummy game is legal in India, players need to understand the root cause of this question. What’s all the fuss about concerning rummy’s legality?

Game of Chance vs Game of Skill

There has been a constant taboo surrounding card games as when played with money. Earlier, it was confined to household corners, unofficial game rooms and local gatherings. However, since the game has taken roots in the internet and online rummy sites in India sprang into action one after another, the rummy legality question has captured the limelight once again.

The taboo surrounding rummy is that it has been contested as a game of chance by a certain section and as such, becomes associated with gambling. This debate has been ongoing for many card games for a long time and rummy legality happens to be in the middle of it. When the matter approached the court, this subject became the exact matter of debate in the Supreme Court that would determine the fate of online rummy sites in India in future.

To begin with, all games under debate are categorized under games of chance and games of skill. The definition states that any game dominated whose outcome is determined predominantly by the factor of luck or chance falls under games of chance.

Conversely, any game whose outcome is determined by the element of skill and requires a certain amount of study and grasp of game theory to excel in the game falls under the category of games of skill. Hence, when the rummy legality matter approached the apex court, after due consideration of all elements of the game, the honourable Supreme Court in 1964 declared rummy as a game of skill as success in the game required a fair degree of skill that overruled the element of chance. 

Rummy’s legality received further protection under Article 19 [1] (g) as the SC observed later that

• Any game whose victory is determined by a predominant degree of skill cannot be termed as a gambling game.
• In the question of whether rummy game is legal in India, even though the game involves an element of chance, its success is fairly based on a player’s skills whether played for free or money.
• Therefore, playing rummy in India’s online rummy sites and offline game rooms for money is legal in India.

State Government Laws Regarding Rummy Legality

The Constitution of India features a federal government structure that allows states governments in the country to form their own laws in their jurisdiction. Many state governments used this column of the Constitution and implemented their own laws regarding rummy’s legality in terms of cash games and banned the game to be operated in club rooms and online rummy sites for real money.

The specific states that forbid the game to be played for real money are Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh. As long as you are a resident of either of these states, you are forbidden under state laws to play rummy games for real money in online rummy sites and gaming rooms. Although, players are still allowed to play free games of rummy anywhere in the country.

Assuming your worries and concerns regarding the question of rummy’s legality have been settled after this read, we can safely direct you to one of India’s stellar online rummy sites where players can enjoy both free and real money games of rummy.

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