Noida-Based NGO Writes To PMO To Control Online Gambling, Betting Platforms

Social Oragnisation For Creating Humanity (SOCH), a Noida-based NGO, has written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) requesting directives to curb online gambling or betting platforms.

In a letter, seen by Inc42, the NGO said that online gaming and gambling have emerged as a new kind of addiction for children and youth. Moreover, it also mentioned that a lot of these websites or apps are operated from outside India through dubious entities.

“With 24/7 availability of internet and smartphone connectivity and perennial advertisements through various means luring customers, online gambling websites have found an easy way to defraud, prey, cheat and loot vulnerable sections of the society and snatch their hard-earned money,” the NGO said in its letter.

It also added gambling or betting websites that are taking deposits and bets from India in the name of business entities and routing the funds to foreign countries which violates Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and Prevention Of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

As per the NGO estimates, over INR 4,000-5000 Cr are being deposited every month by Indian citizens on illegal gambling or betting websites.

“Since the gambling websites are illegally accepting deposits from players and routing the money abroad for illegal and criminal activities with reports indicating links of some such websites to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other known terrorists and elements hostile to India as well, they are a clear threat to the economic and financial stability, thereby threatening national security as well as sovereignty and integrity of the nation,” the NGO said.

Hence, it has asked that MeitY should be directed to block access to all such websites or apps. It has also suggested that the Ministry of Home Affairs, NIA, CBI and ED may be asked to send letters or rogatories to countries where the entities running these illegal gambling websites are operating from.

Television channels, digital websites, news portals and OTT platforms are still showing direct or surrogate gambling/betting websites despite two advisories from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) came asking for appropriate measures, the letter read.

Over the past few months, the MIB issued directives asking media entities, platforms and online advertisement intermediaries to refrain from carrying advertisements/promotional content of betting platforms, as well as to curb outdoor advertisements.

In February, the Indian government banned 138 Chinese betting apps as the apps in question were flouting Section 69 of the IT Act. The Centre also directed Google to stop overseas online betting platforms, such as Betway and 1xBet, from marketing their ads in the country late last year.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also seized INR 212.91 Cr till December 2022 in connection with money laundering probes involving online gambling platforms.

Meanwhile, the above-mentioned NGO filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court recently, challenging the constitutional and legislative validity of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, regarding online gaming.