[NEWS]Nepal shuts down online gaming in the country

[Bitcoin Smith]

If gambling is allowed in a court before but later their government banned gambling, the government are only deceiving themselves because the people know what they will do to bypass the ban.

What the Prime Minister do not know is how offshore gambling sites will make the money more instead of local gambling sites. The citizens of the country will find way to bypass the ban, gamble on offshore gambling sites and be thinking that the government are only invading their freedom.

Nepal government got backlash from the young people for banning online gaming and social media if I am not wrong that brought changes in their government structure and the new one is just continuing the same?

It doesn't look good, but anyway Nepal is a very small country and it won't even have many gamblers to complain about.

[Webetcoins]

Gambling must be regulated.
I don't know how they can block connession and these kind of services but the same happens in Italy 15 years ago.
At the end there are many way to bypass this blocks but "official" casinos will never accept a player with KYC that gamble from this legislation.
Yes they do but this can be clearly illegal (and ust an excuse for closing lately these accounts).

Yeah, I agree. I mean this is not like a crypto or BTC for example that works better if not regulated. It is because this is their main motive to promote decentralization but gambling is only a business and it looks shady if a business is not regulated.

As you said, there are many ways to bypass a restricted website but it is just that it is risky and hard to bypass a licensed one because of the KYC requirements. Our chosen country according on our IP can contradict to the ID that we will submit in the process.

[r_victory]

This is generally a mistake; people tend to like what is forbidden even more. Banning doesn't solve the real problem; it's better to educate than to ban something that, if properly regulated, can bring revenue to the country, and Nepal's economy hasn't been doing very well for some time. It's something that needs to be reviewed; despite the negative aspects of gambling, it's possible to take advantage of the economic benefits of the taxes it generates.

[bhadz]

It's the same policy in our country, online gambling is banned but only applies to unregistered casinos. If the government coordinates with the telecom companies to have these online casinos stop their citizens from gambling, they can do it freely. But, the gamblers won't even stop visiting and playing the online casinos. We know that the more they become strict with their policies, the real gamblers will still find a way to gamble and they won't be stopped by that policy that have been applied whether by new president or by an upcoming one.

[Julien_Olynpic]

A total ban on gambling isn't the smartest solution. Firstly, it violates the free will of citizens who want to gamble. However, people will still find a way around the ban. And overly harsh penalties for gamblers directly violate people's rights. Perhaps the bans stem from the government's concern for addicted citizens, but they are still excessive. I don't think this will last very long. Most developed countries have fairly liberal gambling regulations.

[fruktik]

This is sheer madness. Banning access to platforms is one thing, imposing a criminal sentence is quite another. Are the authorities completely out of their minds? Why are they taking such harsh measures against those who try to circumvent restrictions? Who cares what games people play? Should they even ban them from going to the bathroom? I still don't understand all this absurdity.

On the contrary, this type of activity should be allowed, not banned. How will the coffers be filled? What's going through the minds of these officials?

[Fivestar4everMVP]

I just saw this article while looking for some news about gambling. According to the article, the new prime minister of Nepal shut down the online gaming industry in their country. From what I understand, gambling was already banned in the country before, but now, the new prime minister has ordered telecom companies in the country to disable access to gaming/gambling platforms(I guess before it was just banned, but not ISP banned from telecom companies). Once the ban is implemented, the only way to access the gambling platforms is through a VPN or other means to bypass the restrictions. According to the article, anyone who is caught breaking the law could be fined, their devices will be forfeited, and face jail time from 3 months to 1 year.

Anyone from Nepal here? would love to hear your opinion.

I am not from Nepal and neither have I ever visited the country, but then, I've read and heard alot about this country that it's one of the countries I included in the countries I will be touring when I finally becoming a billionaire which I know will happen pretty soon.. 🙏

So what this means is that If I will be traveling to Nepal, there won't be any way for me to gamble in that country except I break their rule which is by bypassing their restrictions through the use of VPN? This is very serious, I do not know what must have lead to the ban but I guess it's OK as long as the government have seen the way their citizens treat gambling and felt banning it was the last and only option.
But I really wish that they looked for another way of treating what ever issues that lead to the ban than outrighly banning the activity in the country, what about tourists in the country who can not do without gambling? Does this rule apply to them as well?

[nimogsm]

Instead of simply controlling the industry or creating a gaming zone, the country's authorities decided to simply shut down and block everything, while also not forgetting to punish violators. Blocking and searching for violators will also cost the country some money, so this is a highly unreasonable decision. Instead of having another permanent source of income for the treasury, they chose this path.

[Vaculin]

Instead of simply controlling the industry or creating a gaming zone, the country's authorities decided to simply shut down and block everything, while also not forgetting to punish violators. Blocking and searching for violators will also cost the country some money, so this is a highly unreasonable decision. Instead of having another permanent source of income for the treasury, they chose this path.

That’s the problem with some countries, they don’t really have a proper way to control it, so they just go straight to banning it. They’re not seeing the opportunity there, because if they allowed it and regulated it properly, it could generate income for them.

Now that it’s banned, people can still access it using VPNs, so the government just ends up losing potential revenue. Under the current setup, the ban doesn’t really solve the problem unless they can fully enforce it, which is hard to do.

[coinlary]

So what this means is that If I will be traveling to Nepal, there won't be any way for me to gamble in that country except I break their rule which is by bypassing their restrictions through the use of VPN?

You're  not a citizen and since you mentioned  just as a tourist  then it won't affect you  unless it's  clearly stated in the ban too, which I'm not sure  it should be in the first place.

Before the visit ,  go through the rules and make sure you're  allowed to do so as a tourist, it might not be included now but that doesn't  mean they can't add it in the future if their stance on it doesn't  change .

Make sure you also confirm your casino also accepts VPN so you  won’t  run from a trap only to enter a bigger one.

[Judith87403]

This is generally a mistake; people tend to like what is forbidden even more. Banning doesn't solve the real problem; it's better to educate than to ban something that, if properly regulated, can bring revenue to the country, and Nepal's economy hasn't been doing very well for some time. It's something that needs to be reviewed; despite the negative aspects of gambling, it's possible to take advantage of the economic benefits of the taxes it generates.

Not everyone has that criminal mindset of indulging in an activity that’s already banned. Some people have reputations to protect. So they’ll likely not indulge in gambling because they know their reputation would be dragged along. But you’re right about one thing, banning something, especially something that some people has already accepted as a source of income wouldn’t really solve the problem of addiction or irresponsible gambling, cos people would still gamble regardless.

[Odohu]

These action litle effect on gambling for casinos that does not place a ban on the country. People will definitely bypass this through VPN just like you rightly stated, some will just use the mobile app of the casinos which are rarely blocked by the authorities.  I don't know if there is anything serious the government can achieve with banning of casinos because it does not stop the real gamblers who will always find a way to place their bets especially in this era of technology where people have multiple ways of navigating through bans and restrictions. Good awareness and proper regulation would habe done better done better job than outright ban.

[Dunamisx]

I just saw this article while looking for some news about gambling. According to the article, the new prime minister of Nepal shut down the online gaming industry in their country.

I don't think they have learned their lessons from what happened recently regarding the massive protest that rocks the entire country from the gen z,  they have to understand that we are in a generation that we can't restrict people from having access to what they want as long as it is part of what that gives them engaged also them with several opportunity, moreover gambling is an entertainment and they are also doing that to shift concentration on the government and how they expect them to govern the people through their policies, gambling should not be an exceptional and I don't see a reason why they are denying them access to this except they wanted another phase of the previous protest.

[Pandu Geddon]

Not everyone has that criminal mindset of indulging in an activity that’s already banned. Some people have reputations to protect. So they’ll likely not indulge in gambling because they know their reputation would be dragged along. But you’re right about one thing, banning something, especially something that some people has already accepted as a source of income wouldn’t really solve the problem of addiction or irresponsible gambling, cos people would still gamble regardless.

Everything depends on how the government that imposes the ban provides solutions. If the imposition of a ban or restriction is not accompanied by solutions, what happens is just gambling that could possibly be worse. This is because those who are already addicted will definitely find a way to continue gambling. If they cannot do it online, they will look for offline gambling, even if it is illegal.

[Obim34]

You're  not a citizen and since you mentioned  just as a tourist  then it won't affect you  unless it's  clearly stated in the ban too, which I'm not sure  it should be in the first place.

Tourists are mandated to obey the rules of any country they enter, faulting the rules won't ease the punishment, ignorance isn't an escape plan to breaking rules. You are free to do whatever once you leave the country.

Governments who are quick to ban centralized exchanges or online Gambling, don't really know how to work together with the system, instead of banning why not regulate and benefit from them, by taxing and having them licensed to operate, that can fetch extra funds, while aware that such ban won't entirely stop gamblers to find other ways to continue gambling.

[Eternad]

You're  not a citizen and since you mentioned  just as a tourist  then it won't affect you  unless it's  clearly stated in the ban too, which I'm not sure  it should be in the first place.

Tourists are mandated to obey the rules of any country they enter, faulting the rules won't ease the punishment, ignorance isn't an escape plan to breaking rules. You are free to do whatever once you leave the country.

Governments who are quick to ban centralized exchanges or online Gambling, don't really know how to work together with the system, instead of banning why not regulate and benefit from them, by taxing and having them licensed to operate, that can fetch extra funds, while aware that such ban won't entirely stop gamblers to find other ways to continue gambling.

Agreed. The law is for the country in general which means everyone inside are on the scope of that law. I read an issue like this somewhere else that involves online casino while being tourist on a restricted country by the casino.

Since he is using the country IP, he was restricted by the casino and required to KYC. He managed to get his deposit but his account remain closed.

Everyone should respect and follow the law of the country especially tourists.

[Nothingtodo]

The Nepalese government has banned gambling. This is undoubtedly an important aspect of the Nepalese government because if the people of the country are attracted to gambling, they face huge economic losses and it is one of the main reasons for the moral degradation of the youth. If the young generation is attracted to gambling, then they will ruin the youth and increase crime. To manage the gambling money, they can be involved in any criminal activity such as robbery, kidnapping and heinous crimes like murder.

However, if the government declares gambling illegal and banned, how will it reduce gambling participation among the people of that country because people will participate in gambling using VPNs from different countries.

[coinlary]

You're  not a citizen and since you mentioned  just as a tourist  then it won't affect you  unless it's  clearly stated in the ban too, which I'm not sure  it should be in the first place.

Tourists are mandated to obey the rules of any country they enter, faulting the rules won't ease the punishment, ignorance isn't an escape plan to breaking rules. You are free to do whatever once you leave the country.

Since he is using the country IP, he was restricted by the casino and required to KYC. He managed to get his deposit but his account remain closed.

That was from the casino side, always confirm on both sides. If government  bans gambling in a country,  it will affect anyone using an ip pointing that location and this doesn't exempt tourist even if tourist are exeption to a ban .

I haven't  really  confirmed Nepal case but there has to be a rule holding for the gamblers among the tourists, I checked some site and they claimed physical casinos were not restricted for only tourist. I don't know  how true is that but I will take back my first word anyway

[aylabadia05]

A ban like this doesn’t rule out the possibility that some people will still gamble secretly, without the government’s knowledge.
As long as the internet remains active, there will always be ways for players who want to gamble to do so. While deposits made with fiat currency can be detected, they might still be able to use sites that support crypto deposits, which have generally offered a smoother gaming experience. That’s my take on it.

[TheUltraElite]

Less developed country which more or less depends on India for support will try to control its people in any manner possible. This is just another example of this.

But I am sure the Nepalese people are using VPN for some time to watch all sorts of restricted content already and have the knowledge how to use it. Maybe it will slow the regular gambling to some extent but soon enough it will come back up again.

You never know what your idiotic government might come up with, hence learning about these things become important as the internet grows.