Advertising Standards Council of India signed a memorandum of understanding with gambling trade bodies
The Advertising Standards Council of India has signed a memorandum of understanding with three Indian gambling trade bodies to address illegal online gambling advertising from offshore operators.
The Advertising Standards Council of India signed the agreement with the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, the All India Gaming Federation, and the E-Gaming Federation.
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General of the Advertising Standards Council of India, Manisha Kapoor, said, “Indian consumers are exposed to numerous ads of offshore betting and gambling companies that have no accountability in India.
“Several Indian celebrities too have been a part of such advertisements. Since gambling ads are prohibited in most parts of the country, their large-scale presence is a breach of the law. ASCI would like to surface such advertising to the regulators for necessary action.”
The memorandum of understanding between the four organizations has created a monitoring cell that will specifically screen for offshore igaming advertisements.
Additionally, the cell will screen ads covering legal real money gaming that may breach the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code.
While the announcement comes on 18 February, the monitoring cell has been working since 2 January, and has already found 413 advertisements which relate to offshore gambling platforms. The cell has reported these to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
For comparison, the Advertising Standards Council of India flagged 1,336 ads between April 2023 and March 2024.
Another 12 ads have been processed for violating the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code on real money gaming. The new monitoring cell has covered over 30% of that number in a much smaller period.
