India is witnessing a record surge in illegal online betting, with a whopping 1.6 billion visits on large unregulated sites in the past three months. A new report by the Digital India Foundation has pointed to the high penetration of such sites despite government crackdowns.
Online Gambling: The Scale of the Problem
According to the report, more than 1.09 billion – came from people entering website URLs, demonstrating the continued influence of earlier marketing campaigns and word-of-mouth. Furthermore, social media platforms substantially contributed, generating approximately 42.8 million visits via various online marketing campaigns.
This boom has been primarily facilitated by mirror sites; just three Parimatch mirror sites have generated 266 million visits. Gambling operators can evade regulatory controls thanks to this tactic, making it harder for authorities to enforce the law.
Government Response and Challenges
Despite government attempts at bans on websites and monitoring financial transactions, illicit betting operators have persisted. According to the report, this survival is due to aggressive online advertising tactics, ease of payment access, and using alternative domains to get around bans.
In 2023, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance raised alarms regarding illegal gambling websites enabling money laundering and possible terror finance associations. Nevertheless, enforcement is still piecemeal with no unified system to address the problem holistically.
A Global Comparison
The report draws comparisons with regulatory approaches in countries like the UK, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and the United States, where a combination of website blocking, marketing bans, and payment restrictions has yielded better results. The Indian government has been urged to consider a similar holistic approach to disrupt the ecosystem sustaining illegal gambling networks.
The Way Forward
Experts suggest more stringent regulation of online ad platforms that host gambling advertisements and more stringent financial regulation to prevent illegal transactions. Also, AI-powered monitoring tools and regulatory whitelist policy may assist in recognising and filtering out unlawful platforms.
Regulators are facing growing pressure to implement robust policies that strike a balance between financial safety and digital liberty as online gambling gains traction in India. Illicit gambling could become even more entrenched in the Indian digital economy if they don’t take decisive action right away, posing serious social and financial risks.
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