CHENNAI: Several online real money gaming apps, including top fantasy cricket platforms, are openly flouting Tamil Nadu govt’s regulations designed to curb addictive betting behaviour among children and youths. A TOI check revealed that two top fantasy cricket platforms continued to operate beyond midnight, showed no pop-ups during play hours, nor displayed any warning messages. Users could easily create teams and enter betting rooms during restricted hours as well.The violations have surfaced even as a division bench of Madras high court has reserved its verdict on appeals filed by the gaming apps challenging a single judge order in favour of the state’s online gaming law and regulations.Despite repeated violations, the state so far only issued notices to erring platforms without filing formal complaints. The Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority (TNOGA) regulations — notified under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 — continue to remain in force. While the court excluded online rummy and poker, citing them as skill-based games, it upheld the rest of the regulations.Key provisions being violated include a blanket ban on login and gaming between midnight and 5am, mandatory display of awareness pop-ups every 30 minutes, warnings on login pages and limits on monetary recharges.When contacted, TNOGA chairperson M D Nasimuddin told TOI that the authority had issued notices to 25 firms, including major fantasy apps, urging them to comply with regulations. “If they don’t, we will write to the Union ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) to ban them in Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding that rain-truncated IPL matches and super overs go beyond the restricted hours, and this could be a reason why these apps operate after midnight. “But this doesn’t exempt them from following rules. Even Aadhaar-based OTP systems to prevent bots are being bypassed,” he said. He pointed to the govt’s internal analysis showing negligible odds of winning. “We have experts who play for our study purposes. The chances of the majority of people winning is very low. We have also received two complaints from people, one involving substantial financial loss,” he said.A regular player told TOI that these apps mislead users through celebrity endorsements promising huge wins for as little as Rs 49 for entry per team. In these gaming apps, gamers bet on players to choose those performing well in the team so that they end up winning. “But most never even enter the top 1,000 rankings and end up losing money. There are no caps on how many teams a person can enter with, giving an edge to those who can afford more entries. It becomes a game of who can spend more,” Nasimuddin said, adding that those who can spend more can afford to pick uncapped players, who are greenhorns. “But if these players play, those who picked them could win.” Two state-conducted surveys — one with more than two lakh students and teachers and another crowd-sourced — revealed alarming trends. More than 70% of teachers reported diminished concentration, creativity and writing skills in students. A majority also noted increased aggression, eye defects and declining self-esteem.On the legal front, the public appears overwhelmingly in favour of regulation. Of the 10,735 emails the govt received during consultations, 10,708 (more than 99%) supported a complete ban on online games.Nasimuddin said they are studying the legal framework to get them banned.