Offshore betting dominates advertising complaints in India
Betting-related ads rose by 135 per cent year-over-year compared to 1,311 recorded in 2023.
India.- The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has published its Annual Complaints 2024-25 Report, revealing that ads promoting offshore betting and gambling platforms accounted for the largest share of complaints in the period.
According to the report, 3,081 (43.52 per cent) of the 7,078 ads reviewed were linked to offshore betting and gambling sites, including 318 involving influencers promoting the platforms. The number of betting-related ads probed rose by 135 per cent year-over-year from 1,311 in 2023. The second-highest number of complaints related to the real estate sector (1,755 cases) followed by 233 ads for miracle cures, 21 ads for alcoholic beverages and 12 for forex trading.
The ASCI probed 1,015 ads from influencers across all sector, with over a quarter related to fashion and lifestyle. It said: “Out of 100 influencer posts reviewed, only 29 per cent had proper disclosures, while 2% cases were dismissed due to evidence of no material connection. Alarmingly, 69 per cent violated disclosure norms, with 56.8 per cent lacking disclosure labels entirely and 43.2 per cent having disclosures improperly placed within hashtags.”
After notifying them of violations, 59 influencers cooperated and made changes. Five cases were forwarded to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for non-adherence.
The ASCI reported that 89 per cent of the ads reviewed were flagged through its own efforts and 11 per cent came from external complaints, including from the public (659 ads, up by 83.5. per cent from the previous year). The ASCI noted that gambling ads are now being flagged with the help of the monitoring unit set up by gaming industry associations in January.
Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer and secretary general of the ASCI, said: “This year has been one of meaningful collaborations, as we expanded our efforts to address critical areas like offshore betting/gambling and real estate violations, which are high-impact violations. These initiatives reflect a renewed commitment by ASCI to keep the advertising landscape accountable and responsible.”
