Legality

“Rummy has been declared by the courts of law to be a game of skill or mere skill. Games of skill or mere skill are excluded from the applicability of laws prohibiting betting and gambling (‘Betting and Gambling’ being a state subject under the Constitution of India) in all states to the exception of a few. However, the states of Assam and Orissa have not provided clear rulings on this matter and are thus ambiguous territories. Playing rummy online is also legal in India”

In 1957 the Supreme Court stated that prize competitions which involve substantial skill are business activities that are protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.

The Supreme Court of India in the year 1968 has ruled that rummy is a game of skills. This judgement has been relied and followed in many subsequent judgements. In 1996, the Supreme Court of India had also stated that

(i) competition where chances of success depends on significant degree of skill is not considered as ‘gambling’ and

(ii) despite the fact that there is an element of chance, rummy is preponderantly a game of skills and, thus, may be considered as a game of ‘mere skill’.

“Rummy, on the other hand, requires certain amount of skill because the fall of the cards has to be memorized 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.”

Is it legal to play rummy for cash on betedgerummy.com ?
The various Supreme Court rulings and the Gaming Acts of India imply the following:

Gaming or gambling means betting and wagering on games of chance.

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.

So yes, it is perfectly legal to play rummy for cash on betedgerummy.com as long as you are not playing from the states of Assam, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim. In these states the Gaming Laws are less clear. As we get more clarity on the laws in these states, we might reconsider offering our services to residents of these states as well.