On Monday, the Government of India issued warnings to multiple TV channels, OTT platforms, and digital news platforms. The ministry has asked them to refrain from broadcasting advertisements about online betting sites.
The advisory also noted that offshore betting platforms use surrogate products to advertise themselves on the digital media. The offshore betting platforms often get showcased as “news websites”.
Further, the warning recounted that gambling is illegal in the majority of the states, and therefore, advertisements of gambling and betting sites is banned.
Elaborating on the surrogate ads about news websites, the advisory observed that the logos of the advertised news sites and the betting platforms are same, which is not registered with any Indian legal authorities.
“Accordingly, the online offshore betting platforms appear to be promoting betting and gambling under the garb of news as surrogate advertising. In this regard, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also informed that online betting platforms have been advertising themselves as professional sports blogs, sports news websites, etc. while providing an indicative list of online betting platforms which are using news for surrogate advertising,” the government advisory noted.
In accordance, the ministry has asked the OTT platforms, news websites, and other digital platforms to refrain from showcasing ads for the betting platforms and their news sites.
“In this regard, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also informed that online betting platforms have been advertising themselves as professional sports blogs, sports news websites, etc. while providing an indicative list of online betting platforms which are using news for surrogate advertising”, the government stated.
Finally, the advisory warns that the violation of these guidelines will result in penal action under the concerned laws.
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