Offshore Betting Ads Evade India's Digital Advertising Crackdown
16 September 2026
Offshore betting advertisements targeting Indian consumers continue to proliferate despite the country's ban on real-money online games and tighter restrictions on advertising under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA), according to a recent report from the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
ASCI's Latest Findings on the Scale of Violations
ASCI reported that offshore betting accounted for 7,927 ads identified and escalated during 2025, with 6,933 of those monitored between April and December 2025 and flagged in FY26. This volume made offshore betting the single biggest concern in ASCI's annual report, constituting 72.14% of all ad violations found. During the same period, ASCI examined 11,581 cases, a 21% increase from the previous year, with 9,841 of those ads scrutinised for potential violations, a 37% jump. Proactive monitoring systems accounted for 93% of the cases identified, while digital media channels accounted for 97.3% of all violations.
The Digital Dominance of Offshore Betting Ads
Sponsored advertisements on social media platforms accounted for 82% of digital violations. ASCI's half-yearly report found 4,575 offshore and illegal betting ads between April and September 2025, with 97% of violations originating online. Digital channels' dominance is due to their reach, anonymity, and the difficulty in tracking ops across jurisdictions. Industry experts warn that the problem is likely far larger than what is officially detected, as offshore operators continue to innovate in bypassing regulations.
Tactics Used to Evade Restrictions
Offshore betting and gaming companies in 2025, whose operators tend to be based in the Cayman Islands, Malta and Curacao, rely heavily on influencers, bloggers and social media affiliations, as well as surrogate advertising to skirt the restrictions. An ASCI report from June 2026 noted the emergence of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube as major channels for advertising in 2025. The outreach extends a step further through messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal, where advertisements are difficult to detect. A 2026 Economic Times report described how an Instagram news page for Parimatch retailed sports updates while embedding links to its gaming app — one of several subterfuges used to avoid detection.
Regulatory Pushback
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, prohibits real-money games, bans advertisements for such games and prevents banks or financial institutions from processing related transactions. Violations can attract prison terms of up to three years and fines of up to ₹1 crore. In addition to the governmental framework, ASCI has also announced advisories and empowered its staff to identify, verify and outreach to advertising platforms and influencers found promoting offshore betting or “Work From Home” and Money Making Opportunities.
More on this is available via mobile casino sites.
Enforcement Beyond PROGA sheds light on costs involved, including assets and capital that are being moved to mule accounts. The Economic Times reported that the Enforcement Directorate froze ₹110 crore parked in mule accounts and seized 1,200 mule credit cards in raids at 17 locations in 2025. When it comes to endorsers, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting warned in June 2026 against endorsing or promoting offshore online betting and gambling platforms, including through surrogate advertising. ASCI identified 854 influencers promoting offshore betting content between April and December 2025. Some notable ones included Rezaul Bokari, Santosh Choudhary, Mukesh Soni, among others.
The Limits of Ad Regulations and Takedowns
While legal and regulatory updates are welcome, ad bans and platform regulations are proving to be inefficient. The alarming scale of 7,927 ads detected in 2025 indicates that a one-dimensional way to approach advertisements isn’t yielding a proportional outcome. The multiple channels being used for targeting and advertising make it cumbersome to code a take down based on previous filters. Equally limiting is the speed at which the bets are being placed, the amounts are being transacted. Take-downs can happen within hours, if not minutes, rendering any regulatory norms less effective. This along with the anonymity extended through multiple accounts and decreasing payment traces indicates that offshore betting companies continue to mature.
Another prominent viewpoint here is that of the platforms themselves. Platforms have agreed to take-downs but are reluctant to build general filters that could mistakenly impact less grey areas of advertisements. There is also the monetisation angle that continues to plague the effectiveness of ad bans. The larger overhaul required is at a systemic level, rather than just bans and takedowns on advertisements.
ASCI's findings and the regulatory responses provide some important insights into the scale and sophistication of offshore betting companies’ efforts in confronting bans and crackdowns. However, the numbers indicate both the limits of these current approaches, as well as the long term view of system level changes needed.
