For illegal betting firms, IPL, polls are all fair game
Even as the Supreme Court tore into misleading advertisements by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and other packaged consumer goods companies, another sinister issue has emerged, this time involving ads by illegal betting platforms.
Some of these leverage India’s biggest sporting extravaganza, the Indian Premier League (IPL); and some even accept punts on the world’s largest democratic exercise: India’s national elections.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has in the past few weeks flagged more than 500 such online advertisements by such illegal betting platforms.
The development exposes a wider problem of betting on mega events such as the IPL, reminiscent of the scandals that plagued Indian cricket in the 1990s. While illegal betting rings have thrived even after government crackdowns, they have mostly remained below the radar.
The advertising council, a self-regulatory body backed by the ministry of consumer keeps trawling the internet for these illegal betting platforms, but entities 1xBET, JannatBook247, MostBet, WinBuzz, Satta Sport, and YuvrajOnline Book continue to openly advertise online.
The apps and platforms exploit loopholes in regulation to promote themselves extensively on social media, public transport and even on hoardings across the country. In fact, ads by 1xBET persistently feature on hoardings and cabs in urban areas.
The ministry of information and broadcasting has issued several advisories on advertising by betting companies, ending such ads on TV, videostreaming platforms and print media; however, a number of them evade detection online. The main reason is that many of them host their servers abroad, and thus don’t follow Indian laws. The apps operate illegally, exposing users to financial losses with no legal recourse.
In an earlier interview to Mint, betting app Parimatch International CEO Anton Rublievskyi had stated that three leading offshore betting companies combined handled monthly deposits worth over