Offences and Penalties
Section 9: Penalty for Contravention
(1) Any person who offers online money gaming service in contravention of section 5 shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to one crore rupees or with both.
(2) Any person who makes or ca uses to make advertisement in any media, in contravention of section 6, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to fifty lakh rupees or with both.
(3) Any person who engages in any transact ion or authorisation of funds in contravention of section 7 shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to one crore rupees or with both.
(4) If any person convicted of an offence under sub -section ( 1) or sub-section ( 3) is again convicted of an offence under the same provision, he shall be punished with imprisonment for the second and for every subsequent offence for a term which shall not be less than thr ee years, but may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than one crore rupees, but may extend to two crore rupees.
(5) If any person convicted of an offence under sub -section ( 2) is again convicted of an offence unde r the same provision, he shall be punished with imprisonment for the second and for every subsequent offence for a term which shall not be less than two years, but may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than fift y lakh rupees, but may extend to one crore rupees.
Section 10. Cognizance of offences
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Bharatiya Nag arik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, offences under section 5 and section 7 shall be cognizable and non-bailable.
Section 11. Offences by Companies
(1) Where an offence has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of that part of the business of the company as well as the company, shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Nothing contained in sub -section ( 1) shall render any such person liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly under this Act, if he proves that the offence was comm itted without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub -section ( 1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved th at the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing in this sub -section shall hold an independent director or a non -executive director of a company who is not involved in the actual decision making, liable for such offence. Explanation .—For the purposes of this section, the expressions —
(a) “company” means a body corporate, and includes —
(i) a firm; and
(ii) an association of persons or a body of individuals whether incorporated or not; and
(b) “director” , in relation to —
(i) a firm, means a partner in the firm; (ii) any association of persons or a body of individuals, means any member controlling its affairs thereof.
Section 12. Non Compliance by any other person
(1) Any person who fails to comply with any direction or order issued by the Central Government or the Authority or agency under sub -section ( 3) of section 8 shall be liable to penalty which may extend to ten lakh rupees or may include suspension or cancellation of registration, and prohibition from offering, facilitating or promoting such games for such period as may be determined by the Central Government or the Authority.
(2) No action under sub -section ( 1) shall be taken without giving an opportunity of being heard.