No Ads Promoting Online Betting: Govt Issues Advisory To Media

New Delhi: In a significant move, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on Monday issued an advisory to print, electronic and digital media to refrain from advertising online betting platforms.

An increasing number of advertisements of online betting websites/platforms have been appearing in media.

“Betting and gambling, illegal in most parts of the country, pose significant financial and socio-economic risk for the consumers, especially youth and children, the advisory states,” the advisory states.

“The advertisements of online betting are misleading, and do not appear to be in strict conformity with the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Advertising Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995, and advertisement norms under the Norms of Journalistic Conduct laid down by the Press Council of India under the Press Council Act, 1978”, it says.

Issued in larger public interest, the ministry has advised online and social media, including online advertisement intermediaries and publishers, to not display such advertisements in India or target such advertisements towards the Indian audience.

The I & B Ministry had, on December 4, 2020, issued an advisory to private satellite TV channels to adhere to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines on advertisements of online gaming which contained specific Do’s and Dont’s for print and audio-visual advertisements of online gaming.