MIB issues advisory against betting and gambling advertising ahead of Asia Cup and World Cup

Ahead of the upcoming Men's Asia Cup and the Men's ODI Cricket World Cup, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory regarding betting platforms advertising in newspapers, on television and on digital platforms.

 

This follows the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, issuing advisories on 13 June 2022, 3 October 2022 and 6 April 2023 which stated that betting and gambling are illegal in India and hence promotions of such activities directly or in a surrogate manner on any media platform is illegal.

 

The advisory mentions that the Government had recently taken action against agents who collected money from users of gambling apps and funnelled the funds out of India. Based on this, the Ministry states that along with the addiction betting and gambling can cause, these sites also have linkages to money laundering networks which can threaten the financial security of the country. The Ministry adds that there's a high chance of black money being used to pay for such advertisements. 

 

Further, with two high-profile cricket tournaments (Asia Cup, Men's ICC ODI World Cup) being held back-to-back, history suggests that betting and gambling advertising increases and so the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting advices all stakeholders in media to immediately refrain from showing such advertisements, failing which the Government would be constrained to take appropriate action.