Online betting platform advertisements still visible on TV and digital media: I&B Ministry

Source: The post is based on the article “Online betting platform advertisements still visible on TV and digital media: I&B Ministry” published in The Hindu on 4^th October 2022.

What is the News?

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry advised online news websites, OTT platforms, and private TV channels to refrain from publishing or broadcasting advertisements of online betting platforms or any surrogate product depicting them.

Why I&B Ministry advised to refrain from publishing advertisements promoting online betting?

A number of advertisements of online betting websites/platforms appear in print, electronic, social and online media. So, the I&B Ministry released the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements-2022 under the Consumer Protection Act.

The major reason for I&B Ministry’s guidelines are,

a) Betting and gambling are illegal in most parts of the country. They pose a significant financial and socio-economic risk for consumers, especially the youth and children.

b) The advertisements of online betting are misleading, and do not appear to be in strict conformity with 1) The Consumer Protection Act, 2) Advertising Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, and 3) Advertisement norms under the Norms of Journalistic Conduct laid down by the Press Council of India under the Press Council Act.

c) The concerned betting platforms, and the corresponding news websites, are also not registered with any legal authority under Indian laws.

What is the reason for advising again to refrain?

Some online offshore betting platforms had started using news websites as surrogate products to advertise on TV channels. Such companies had been advertising themselves as professional sports blogs, sports news websites, etc.,