The Telangana Cabinet on Saturday passed an Ordinance amending the Gaming Act to ban online gambling, PTI reported. The ordinance bans playing card game rummy online and those participating or promoting the activity will be liable for prosecution under the new law. The Ordinance needs Governor ESL Narasimhan’s approval to come into effect.

The Telangana government, soon after the state was formed in 2014, had ordered a crackdown on clubs that encouraged gambling. “But the government received complaints that people are now indulging in online gambling,” Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari was quoted as saying by PTI. “We want to eliminate gambling in all forms. So the Gaming Act will be amended, banning online gambling. The cyber police will track online gambling and act against violators.”

Besides the Gaming Act, the Telangana Cabinet amended three other Acts on Saturday. The Preventive Detention Act was amended to curb the sale of spurious seeds, adulteration of food items and the use of fake education certificates, while changes were introduced in the Record of Rights Act to ban the registration of government land in the name of private persons. The Value Added Tax Act was also amended, enabling it to be in force for even six years after the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax regime.