The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed Google to stop displaying surrogate advertisements of betting companies citing gambling in any form, be it online or offline, is illegal in India.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 7, 2022 18:08 IST
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed Google to stop displaying surrogate advertisements of betting companies. (Photo: Reuters)
By Sumit Kumar Singh: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed Google to stop displaying surrogate advertisements of betting companies such as Betway, Fairplay, PariMatch, and 1xBet on its platforms — search engine and YouTube – citing gambling in any form, be it online or offline, is illegal in India.
A senior officer from the ministry told India Today, ”We have written to Google to immediately stop such advertisements — direct or surrogate — as it is in violation of norms.” The officer also said the ministry has written to the search engine giant last week after the advertisements came to the notice of the ministry.
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On October 3, the ministry issued an advisory directing all TV channels and OTT players to stop showing surrogate advertisement of online betting firms.
The ministry directed private satellite TV channels advising them to refrain from publishing advertisements of online betting platforms. The advisory was issued as because betting and gambling are prohibited in most parts of the country, and pose significant financial and socio-economic risks to the participants, especially youth and children.
“Accordingly, the promotion of offline or online betting/gambling through advertisements is not advised in larger public interest,” the ministry stated.
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“Betting and gambling is an illegal activity in most parts of India. In accordance with the Paragraph 9 of the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements 2022 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, it has been observed that since betting and gambling are illegal, advertisements of online offshore betting and gambling platforms are also illegal. In this regard, it may be noted that in accordance with the Advertising Code under Cable TV Network Regulation Act 1995, advertisements of betting platforms, being an illegal activity, cannot be shown on TV channels.”
Earlier, the Department of Consumer Affairs 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 ministry had said that contravention and violation of the rules “may invite penal action under the applicable laws”.
