Offshore betting sites are ending up with fatter pockets amid sparse regulations in India

A report on the website MoneyControl has cited the stark difference between offshore betting sites and online gaming business in India. While lack of government regulations and guidelines, major taxation issues, and Google’s policy changeshave made things tough for the gaming industry, betting sites are reaping the moolah.

The website reports that a dozen companies such as Dafabet, Betway, Bet365, Parimatch, Fairplay, and 1xbet, have earned more from Indian punters in the last two years than many of India’s top online gaming operators. The Indian online gaming industry is losing a whopping $25-30 billion to these gambling sites.

These companies are incorporated in places such as Malta, Curacao, Belize, Gibraltar, and Isle of Man where there aren’t any regulations to control their operations. Although the owners are mostly Indians, with one such site being owned by a famous fugitive duo. Reports suggest that this site had organised a party in Dubai recently which had several Bollywood celebrities in attendance.

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They adopt surrogate advertising to promote their website since Indian law discourages direct promotion of gambling and betting sites. So what they do is they open their own news websites with quirky names. Their clickable banner advertisements can be seen on several websites. They also sponsor sports teams who then adorn their logos on their jerseys.

Offshore betting sites have even shook hands with the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) to improve their networking and reach, which clearly sends the wrong message on the matter.

With their deep pockets, these companies easily buy advertisement spots on OTT platforms and television. As per the figures reported by MoneyControl, the top six operators alone garner about Rs 5,500 crore of deposits every month in India.

The laws around offshore betting sites aren’t very clear in India. The Public Gaming Act 1867 is outdated and does not suit the present scenario. The Advertisement Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines talk about a code for self-regulation in advertising and as such compliance is voluntary when it comes to online advertising. But for television, it is mandated by the law under the Cable Television Act but is hardly followed.

Since the government is incurring a major loss of revenue, it is trying to regulate betting sites. While gaming sites that appear to be a facade for gambling are being tackled by ordinances in many states, offshore betting sites still seem to fall far out of any such purview because of the way they operate.

(With inputs from agencies)