Popular YouTuber and influencer Anant Ladha recently released a short reel picking up the recent celebrity advertisement for banned offshore betting website lotus365 and how no one is taking any action against these celebrities shamelessly promoting it.
Ladha calls these celebrities a “sell-out” for promoting betting to the youth, as it can lead them to addiction and debt-ridden conditions. Another thing to not is that since these companies are not registered in India, in case of fraud, people cannot register a complaint against them.
Lotus365 along with several other apps was banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), but the company changes the domain and is still operating in India. Apart from these social media promotion, these websites also use surrogate brands for promotion.
The government has also previously issued various advisories to cable TV, OTTs and print media to refrain from promoting these advertisements. While the advertisements on these medium have certainly toned down, there are still mediums where these sites continue to advertise heavily.
G2G has also covered these illegal promotions on various occasions. Many of the popular celebrities promoting lotus365 include Suniel Shetty, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Urvashi Rautela, Tamannaah Bhatia, and several others to name just a few.
Celebrities promoting Lotus365 despite govt notices
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Urvashi Rautela were among the first celebrities who received notices from the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) regarding their promotion of lotus365. Despite that, Urvashi Rautela was spotted promoting it the very next day.
The company is using popular celebrities as to lure in their fans. Many people have criticized the promotion, but these celebrities even turn off the option to comment while posting a promotional video in order to evade any form of criticism from their followers who are aware of the situation.
The comments in Ladha’s video also tell us how bad the situation is currently, as several big meme pages that have millions of followers openly promote these illegal websites. People have also suggested banning these celebrities promoting betting websites.
According to the Consumer protection Act (CPA), celebrities promoting illegal or banned betting websites can be fine up to Rs 50 lakh and can also be banned from any advertisements for one year.
People who are unsure regarding the illegitimacy and banned apps information can check here.