Registration, Scrutiny, Enforcement: Playbook to tackle offshore betting surge
Offshore betting has become a top advertising violator, exposing regulatory gaps as experts call for stricter frameworks and enforcement to curb the growing menace.
ADVERTISEMENT
Offshore betting platforms have surged to become India’s most violative advertising sector, accounting for 43 percent of cases flagged by the Advertising Standards Council of India in its 2024-2025 annual report, up sharply from 17 percent the previous year.
The figures highlight the regulatory challenges India faces as online gaming and betting operators, often based offshore, continue to find ways around existing frameworks. The issue took center stage at Storyboard18’s Digital Entertainment Summit 2025 during a panel discussion on creating an effective regulatory structure for online gaming in India.
Moderating the discussion, independent legal advisor Gowree Gokhale raised concerns about the rapid rise of offshore betting and questioned how a stronger legal framework could “nip offshore betting activity in the bud.”
Gopal Jain, senior counsel, underscored the need for a robust regulatory structure that mandates registration and requires companies to maintain registered offices in India to enable heightened scrutiny and monitoring. Reflecting on previous attempts to address the issue through legal avenues, Jain noted that attempts to file public interest litigations had been met with limited responses. “You make a representation to the government,” he recalled being told.
To tackle the issue effectively, Jain advocated for compulsory registration, regulatory scrutiny, and prompt yet effective enforcement by law enforcement agencies and regulators.
Expanding on the regulatory challenges, Nandan Kamath, principal lawyer at LawNK, argued that from a business standpoint, it is currently easier to operate an offshore betting site than one within India’s jurisdiction.
Kamath also highlighted the pervasive spread of surrogate advertising across buses, auto rickshaws, and billboards. While jurisdictional action is often seen as a last resort, Kamath pointed out that “jurisdiction isn't much of help when it came to online gaming and the harm caused by it.”
“We're in a very peculiar position where the greater harm is being left out,” Kamath added. “If we want to call other harms from the networked gaming ecosystem, it's like them getting stepchild treatment when the other one is getting first child treatment.”
As India’s online gaming and betting markets expand, regulators and legal experts appear aligned on one point: without a stronger enforcement framework, offshore betting will continue to flourish, undermining consumer protection and regulatory efforts in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets.
