Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has advised all stakeholders, including the media entities, online advertisement intermediaries and social media platforms to immediately refrain from showing advertisements and promotional content on betting and gambling in any form. The Ministry in a statement said that failure to adhere to this advisory may invite appropriate action from the Government of India under various statutes.
 
The Ministry has cited the recent Central Government action against a network of agents who had collected substantial money from users of gambling apps. It has further added that this mechanism has linkages to money laundering networks, thereby threatening the financial security of the country. In the advisory, the Ministry added that along with these illegalities, it is also highly likely that black money is used to pay for such advertisements. To that end, the Ministry has noted that certain media entities have been allowing direct and indirect advertisements of betting and gambling platforms during major sporting events, including cricket tournaments. The Ministry has also observed that there is a tendency to spike promotion of such betting and gambling platforms during a major sporting event, especially cricket, and one such important international event is beginning in a few days from now.
 
The Ministry has issued advisories to warn media platforms against publicizing betting and gambling platforms. The online advertisement intermediaries have also been advised not to target such advertisements towards the Indian audience.