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Received grievances against online gambling websites: MEITY in Rajya Sabha

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Grievances against offshore betting/gambling websites being accessible in India were received by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday. The Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar was responding to queries by Aneel Prasad Hegde, JDU MP from Bihar.

On the steps taken to prevent offshore betting platforms from advertising in India, the minister said an advisory to all private satellite TV channels on titled “Advertisements on Online Games, Fantasy Sports, etc” was issued.

According to the advisory, “all broadcasters are advised that the Guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) are complied with and the advertisements broadcast on television will adhere to the aforementioned Guidelines of ASCI. Further, the online and social media, including the online advertisement intermediaries and publishers, are advised not to display advertisements of online betting platforms in India or target such advertisements towards the Indian audience.”

It is worth noting that DD Sports which partnered with FanCode to telecast ongoing West Indies vs India series on Free-to-Air basis recently violated Parliament approved ‘Code on Commercial Advertising on Doordarshan’ by telecasting ads related to betting and gambling.

In a related development, Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently said his ministry has been interacting with the online gaming platforms and other stakeholders to evolve possible roadmap of regulation so as to promote ease of doing business and to provide suitable eco-system for the indigenous platforms. He was responding to queries from Aparjita Sarangi, BJP Lok Sabha member from Bhubaneswar.

Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said ‘no grievance was received’. The inadvertent error is regretted.

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