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The Central Consumer Protection Authority has put out a stern warning to stakeholders involved in betting, and gambling of all sorts would face far-reaching consequences if ways aren’t amended.
The recent spurge of ads promoting betting and gambling has sparked this outreach by the authority, by putting out an advisory to all the celebrities and influencers to stop marketing these activities, which have now been deemed illegal.
“In response to increasing instances of advertisements promoting illegal activities such as betting and gambling, the CCPA has issued a comprehensive advisory,” an official statement said.
The Consumer Protect Act, 2019 has stated the activity of promotion, and advertising of gambling, and other unlawful activities are strictly prohibited, and this latest advisory is just a mirror of that.
“Betting and gambling are strictly prohibited under the Public Gambling Act, 1867, and are considered illegal in the majority of regions across the country. Despite this, online betting platforms and apps persist in advertising betting and gambling directly, as well as under the guise of gaming,” CCPA said.
The uninformed public, especially youth are falling prey to these online campaigns promoting these illegal activities, and therefore affecting their abilities to help produce good for the economy.
The advisory highlighted that the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, categorically prohibit advertisements of products or services prohibited under any prevailing law.
“ The guidelines apply to all advertisements, irrespective of the medium used, and warn celebrities and influencers that any engagement in the promotion or advertisement of online gambling and betting, given its unlawful status, renders one equally liable for participating in an illegal activity,” the CCPA said.
The authority has warned the promoters and marketers of these illegal activities of stringent consequences in the form of the latest advisory issued, and going forth any promoting of activities, which could be considered remotely close to illegal, will fall victim to heavy scrutiny.
It was mentioned by the authority as “If any violation of the guidelines is found, stringent measures, as per the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, will be initiated against (those) involved, including manufacturers, advertisers, publishers, intermediaries, social media platforms, endorsers, and any other relevant stakeholders,”
Source Credit: The Hindu
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