Chennai: A slew of notices issued by Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority to at least 25 firms running online gaming apps for violating the state’s guidelines have had the desired impact, with the companies now not allowing players to enter games after midnight.Among other restrictions are warning pop-ups, cash limits, time-restriction options, and the apps not being available from midnight to 5am. Almost all the apps had been violating these rules until last month, mostly due to cricket games extending till late night because of super overs and rain.TNOGA chairperson M D Nasimuddin said some firms responded to the notices, promising that they would comply with the state norms. “A few of the top firms are complying with the rules now. Some are still not. TNOGA is also planning to write to MEITY to get a few other apps, who still haven’t complied, banned in Tamil Nadu,” he said.Now, though the apps still allow people to log in and select teams, they prevent them from joining real money contests. The companies are not entirely following the state’s guidelines. Nasimuddin said they were awaiting a Madras high court verdict on the issue, and the restrictions were still valid during the interregnum period. TNOGA had received complaints of financial loss and is further investigating the impacts of the betting apps, he said.‘An Empirical Study on Victimisation on Online Gaming Fraud among Young Adults in Chennai’, done by professors from University of Madras and MGR Educational and Research Institute and published this year, found that 42% of those who played online gaming lost money of less than 500, 37.3% lost about 500 to 1,000, and 6.8% lost between 1,000 and 5,000. About 12% lost money from 5,000 to 10,000, while 1.7% of the total players lost at least 1 lakh. About 15.3% responded stating that they faced emotional and psychological impact, and 8.5% said they faced reputational damage.