A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court has brought the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and several high-profile celebrities under scrutiny for allegedly promoting illegal online gambling platforms. The PIL will be heard by division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel on April 30.
Advocate Davinder Singh has sought immediate judicial intervention to curb what he describes as the rampant and unchecked promotion of illegal betting apps such as Fairplay, 1xBet, Parimatch, Betway, Stake, Lotus365, and SkyExchange.
The petition (a copy of which is with Storyboard18) states that ASCI, the industry self-regulatory body, is failing to act against misleading advertisements. The petitioner argues that ASCI has not fulfilled its mandate, by allowing celebrity endorsements that glamorize and legitimize these illegal platforms.
The petition states, “ASCI has failed to monitor and take timely action against misleading advertisements promoting gambling in violation of its Code and the Consumer Protection Act”.
Citing Sections 21 and 89 of the Act, the PIL demands prosecution and penal action against endorsers, including actors Ranbir Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Esha Gupta, Urvashi Rautela, Jacqueline Fernandez, and singers like Badshah and Karan Aujla. These endorsements, the petition claims, mislead consumers, particularly vulnerable youth, by portraying gambling as safe and rewarding.
“The endorsements create a false legitimacy and have devastating consequences for impressionable audiences,” the petition states. Several tragic incidents have been highlighted in the plea, including student suicides attributed to betting addiction and financial losses incurred on these platforms.
The petitioner has urged the court to direct ASCI to initiate legal proceedings against the celebrity endorsers and to enforce its code of advertising more stringently. The petition also calls on the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to block access to these websites and coordinate with enforcement agencies to investigate money laundering, data privacy breaches, and the misuse of Aadhaar and mobile data.
Petition states, “Whether the inaction or regulatory failure of the ASCI in monitoring and penalizing such misleading advertisements violates its statutory duty under the consumer Consumer Protection framework and its self-regulatory code?”
The PIL has named ASCI as a respondent alongside the governments of Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh; the Ministry of Electronics and IT; the Enforcement Directorate (ED); and the celebrities in question.
Singh is pushing for the immediate creation of comprehensive regulations to govern advertising and operations of online betting platforms. He further pleads timely enforcement of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which allows the government to block public access to illegal online content, and to take decisive action against violators. The petition stresses the public health, economic, and legal risks these platforms pose, and argues for a holistic regulatory framework.
Advocate Davinder Singh, petitioner told Storyboard18, “It is unfortunate that celebrities openly promote betting and gambling platforms without considering its ill effects on the society. ASCI on the other hand is failing drastically to fulfil its duty to report such misleading advertisements.”
Between April and August 2024, ASCI flagged over 700 advertisements from illegal betting and gambling companies and forwarded them to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).
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Concerns over surrogate advertising have also been raised. In a letter to MIB Secretary Sanjay Jaju, stakeholders in the Real Money Gaming (RMG) industry highlighted how offshore betting operators such as Melbet, Dafabet, Vegas11, Fun88, and 1xBet are disguising ads under similar-sounding brands like Melbat, Dafanews, Vegas11 Sports News, Fun88 News, and Batery.AI.
In a separate but related development, another PIL was recently filed in the Supreme Court by evangelist K.A. Paul, citing the damaging influence of online betting apps on the country’s youth. That petition calls for an immediate ban on such apps and seeks legal action against celebrities—including popular cricketers and actors from Bollywood and South India—who promote these platforms and allegedly mislead their fans by encouraging harmful behavior.
In 2023, MIB issued an advisory to state chief secretaries to crack down on outdoor advertising by gambling and betting companies. Apurva Chandra, Secretary of the MIB, reiterated previous advisories that prohibit such promotions in traditional media and pointed out a shift toward outdoor channels—hoardings, posters, banners, and even auto-rickshaw branding—as a new way these companies are promoting their services. The letter urged local authorities to take immediate and appropriate action to curb these outdoor ads.
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