I&B ministry warns newspapers against printing betting and gambling ads

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on Thursday issued another stern advisory to media entities, media platforms and online advertisement intermediaries to refrain from carrying advertisements and promotional content of betting platforms.

The ministry has said, recently mainstream English and Hindi newspapers have been carrying advertisements and promotional content of betting websites. Therefore, the advisory has been issued to all media formats, including newspapers, television channels, and online news publishers, with specific examples where such advertisements have appeared recently.

The ministry has cited examples of companies 1XBet, Fairplay, Lotus365, Betway Scores, Panther777, Khiladi.com, which have advertised recently. It said that it has also objected to the promotion by one specific betting platform encouraging the audience to watch a sports league on its website, which is in violation of its Copyright Act, 1957.

The ministry said that it is a legal obligation and the moral duty of the media to follow the provisions of the ‘Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ of the Press Council which mentions that newspapers should not publish an advertisement containing anything which is unlawful or illegal.

Betting apps have run into a lot of trouble with the authorities. Last June, the ministry had issued an advisory asking newspapers, private TV channels and digital news publishers to refrain from publishing advertisements of online betting platforms. The government had then said that it had come to the notice of the government that several sports channels on television, as well as on OTT platforms, have recently been showing advertisements of offshore online betting platforms as well as their surrogate news websites.

The ministry said in a statement naming platforms such as Fairplay, PariMatch, Betway, Wolf 777, and 1xBet. that such websites are promoting betting and gambling under the garb of news. The advisories issued by the ministry stated that since betting and gambling are illegal in most parts of the country, advertisements of these betting platforms, as well as their surrogates, are also illegal. The advisories relied upon the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Cable TV Network Regulation Act 1995 and the IT Rules, 2021, the ministry said. Companies then withdrew mainstream advertising.

However, they do continue to promote their brands via several international T20 cricket tournaments with on-ground and jersey advertisements. According to industry estimates, the withdrawal of such ads has cost advertisers on TV and other broadcasters at least ₹1,500 crore a year.