Despite wanting to invest in the gaming industry, the government of Telangana in southern India has decided to ban online rummy within the state.

Any individual found to have taken part in online rummy gaming will face prosecution, while those who promote the game will also be punished based on the new law. Approval of a new ordinance was given by the state cabinet with a clause that included the banning of online rummy and sent to the Governor of the state in India.

The gaming policy of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was released three months ago and proposed certain incentives for those who were investing in the online gaming industry. However, the chief minister soon became upset due to an increase in online card games so he asked officials to create a new law.

Once TRS took power, the government has been cracking down on gambling as well as card clubs, forcing such establishments to shut down. Once these clubs were no more, online card games were promoted and financial loss complaints due to such games were received by police.

Now additional measures are being taken to ensure that rummy is not accessed online by residents of the state and if so, those taking part will be prosecuted. Players were logging online after losing access to such card games once the card rooms shut down.