For years, Goa’s floating casinos have provided a space for family outings, with dedicated kids’ play zones, crèches, and babysitting areas. This changes now!
Citizens’ groups, including Ponnjekars Against Casinos (PAC), highlighted that this familial image violates legal provisions under Section 5(xiii) of the Goa Public Gambling Act, 1976, and the Goa Children’s Act, 2003.
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Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) is also looking into the issue and pushes for a stricter policy barring minors from boarding casino vessels.
How the issue surfaced
Ponnjekars Against Casinos (PAC) filed a criminal complaint in April at the Panaji Police Station alleging that offshore casinos anchored in the Mandovi river were deliberately permitting minors to board their vessels. This complaint also included promotional materials from casinos, including Deltin Royale and Deltin Jaqk, which PAC said advertised kid-centric facilities to draw in families while including photographic evidence.
PAC’s complaint invoked Section 5(xiii) of the Goa Public Gambling Act, 1976, which bars anyone under 21 from entering offshore casino vessels and licensed gaming premises, as well as provisions of the Goa Children’s Act, 2003, which treat inducing a child into gambling-linked activity as a form of abuse.
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However, the police complaint has not resulted in an FIR as no institutional mechanism exists under the gambling rules to process these complaints. This issue was then taken up by PAC to GSCPCR, meeting the commission in June to press the case, flagging not just physical entry onto vessels, but also the normalisation of such advertisements which might influence the minors.
What Has the Goa Government Done So Far?
The Home Department formally barred anyone under the age of 21 from entering designated gaming areas on both onshore and offshore properties.
While the government has stopped short of imposing a complete ban on entry to casinos, it has tightened eligibility rules to regulate access to gaming areas.
Critics, however, highlight a wide loophole in this directive, as minors and young adults can still be brought on board, placing them inside a gambling environment even if they never approach a gaming table.
This remains the gap highlighted by GSCPCR, as children’s rights demand that minors must be stopped from boarding the vessel itself.
The demand and argument are simple; a floating casino is not a neutral entertainment venue that happens to have a gaming section attached. Proximity to a gambling environment is itself a form of exposure that the Goa Children’s Act was designed to prevent, regardless of whether a minor ever places a bet.
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