The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has upped the ante against illegal betting and gambling companies, identifying and sharing with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) over 700 offending advertisements issued by these entities between April and August.
Storyboard18 recently reported that Real Money Gaming (RMG) players have claimed that offshore illegal gambling firms have been using the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) as a sporting platform for surrogate advertising.
In a letter to Sanjay Jaju, Secretary of MIB, Real Money Gaming (RMG) players raised concerns that illegal and offshore betting platforms like Parimatch, Dafabet, Melbet, Vegas11, Fun88, and 1xBet are engaging in surrogate advertising under names like Parimatch News, Melbat, Dafanews, Vegas11 Sports News, Fun88 News, 1xbat, and Batery.AI, the advertising & marketing platform reports.
The RMG operators also allege that Dafa News, a surrogate of Dafabet based in the Philippines, and Parimatch News, a surrogate of the betting platform Parimatch, based in Cyprus, are official partners of the PKL. Moreover, they claim that these platforms allow its users to place their bets on live PKL matches.
PKL season 11 kicks off on October 18.
Storyboard18 quotes Manisha Kapoor, CEO and secretary general of ASCI, as stating, “We have raised the issue of betting and gambling firms advertisements with the MIB. We report it to the government by sending them ad links. We have also noted that in some cases, the links are not active anymore and the content has been pulled off by the platforms on being directed to do so by the government.”
Kapoor added, “In the 2023-24 financial year, we identified 1,311 ads for illegal betting and gambling. From April to August 2024, we have shared 700 such ads with the government.”
An RMG operator, speaking anonymously, told Storyboard18, “We are pleased that the self-regulatory body, ASCI, is taking a strong stance on curbing promotions of illegal betting and gambling companies. The government should take stricter action after receiving such complaints. We also plan to meet with MIB through our gaming federations to request an advisory be issued to broadcasters and streaming platforms to curb the surrogate advertising of these platforms.”
A spokesperson from another RMG company stated, “As an industry, we are paying taxes to the government, while these offshore illegal betting and gambling companies are growing their user base through surrogate advertising and marketing strategies. If this issue is not addressed, many RMG companies will be forced to shut down.”
During a media briefing on Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that revenue from online gaming has surged by 412%, reaching ₹6,909 crore ($823.5 million) in just six months since October 1, 2023, when a 28% tax was imposed on these services. This amount is compared to the ₹1,349 crore ($161m) collected before the notification on online gaming was issued.
