Government of India bans online betting advertisements across all platforms

In a very appreciable move, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) on Monday issued an advisory asking the media to refrain from publishing or broadcasting advertisements of online betting platforms.  

The advisory comes at a time when the number of online betting advertisements has increased significantly on all online and offline mediums including electronic media, print media, online websites, apps, and social media. 

The central government said, “Betting and gambling is illegal in most parts of the country, and concerns have been expressed that advertisements of online betting promote an activity which is otherwise largely prohibited and poses a significant financial and socio-economic risk for the consumers, especially youth and children.”

Online betting advertisements are misleading and do not necessarily comply with the laws and rules made for the protection of consumers. They also pose a security thread as most of such apps can be downloaded only from their websites and not Play Store or App Store. 

Citing the above reasons, the ministry has asked print and electronic media to not carry any online betting ads. In addition to that, the government also directed online advertisement intermediaries and publishers like Google Ads to not show online betting ads in India or target such ads towards Indian users.