The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asked private television channels, digital news publishers, and OTT platforms on Monday to refrain from showing ads for online pay-to-earn sites and surrogate advertisements.
In a new advisory, the ministry said such sites pose significant financial and socio-economic risks for consumers, especially youth and children.

On June 13, the ministry issued a similar advisory to newspapers, private TV channels, and digital news publishers to refrain from publishing advertisements for online pay-to-earn platforms.

“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 for offshore online betting platforms as well as their surrogate news websites,” the ministry said in a release.

In the advisory, the ministry said online offshore pay-to-earn platforms are now using news websites as a surrogate product to advertise the pay-to-earn platforms on digital media. In such cases, the ministry has found that the logos of surrogate news sites look similar to pay-to-earn platforms.

In addition, the ministry said that neither the pay-to-earn platforms nor the news websites are registered under any legal authority in India. As surrogate advertising, such websites promote pay-to-earn under the guise of news.
The advisories given by the ministry said that since pay-to-earn is illegal in most parts of the country, advertisements for these pay-to-earn platforms as well as their surrogates are also illegal.

The advisories depended upon the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the Cable TV Network Regulation Act 1995, and the IT Rules 2021. The ministry has said that such advertisements are not in conformity with various related laws and has strongly advised TV channels as well as digital news publishers to refrain from broadcasting such pay-to-earn platforms or their surrogate news websites, reminding TV channels that violation may invite penal action. The ministry has also advised online advertisement intermediaries to not target such advertisements toward Indian audiences.

According to All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) estimates, platforms like Dafabet, Betway, Bet365, Parimatch, FairPlay, and lxBet are seeing deposits of between Rs 750 crore and Rs 1,400 crore per month.

“We are grateful to the government for taking such a decisive step against illegal offshore gambling websites, which have been advertising in India in the garb of surrogate news and sports websites,” said Roland Landers, CEO, of AIGF.

AIGF has been highlighting this menace beginning around 2018 and has been continually taking up these issues with different central ministers and giving proof of uninterrupted advertising on significant Indian OTT and satellite channels.

“We will continue to monitor this and report any infraction to the government,” Landers said. “We hope that, unlike earlier, the TV networks, OTTs, and digital news publishers will take this advisory seriously and not support these anti-national websites and give them prime time airspace. This will also help distinguish legitimate Indian online skill gaming players, which provide the highest player protection measures and are a form of entertainment, from these illegal gambling sites, which are the main reason for widespread consumer harm and problems.”

The I&B ministry has worked in close coordination with the Department of Consumer Affairs on the issue of the advisories.

Credit: The Economic Times