NEW DELHI: Illegal online financial activities, including betting and gambling, have surged dramatically in India in recent years. A report by the Digital India Foundation revealed that digital platforms recorded a staggering 1.6 billion visits in just three months across four major websites.
The report highlighted that the majority of these visits were organic, exceeding 184 million—significantly higher than the 42.8 million visits generated through social media platforms.
Mirror websites also played a major role in the booming illegal market. Three Parimatch mirror sites alone accounted for an additional 266 million visits, further amplifying the scale of unregulated betting.
"Despite repeated government actions, including website blocking and advisories, illegal operators continue to thrive, leveraging advanced digital marketing tactics, seamless payment processing, and mirror websites to evade enforcement," the report stated.
According to ANI, the report attributed this success to sophisticated digital marketing strategies, frictionless payment processing, and mirror websites that allow these platforms to bypass enforcement measures.
The report further noted: "While major digital platforms prohibit betting and gambling-related promotions, enforcement remains highly inconsistent. Advertisements on Facebook’s Ad Network have grown exponentially in recent years."
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, in 2023, had also raised major concerns over online betting sites facilitating money laundering and terror financing.
The report also found that 1.098 billion visits to illegal platforms originated from users directly entering website URLs, indicating the lasting impact of past marketing campaigns and referrals.
The study further cited global experiences from the UK, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and the United States, where website blocking alone proved ineffective. These countries have seen greater success by combining website restrictions with marketing bans, payment blocking, and curated whitelists and blocklists.
To address this growing challenge, the report emphasized the need to move beyond current strategies and adopt a more holistic, ecosystem-based approach.
"India must shift from its fragmented enforcement strategy to a comprehensive, ecosystem-based approach that effectively disrupts the key enablers sustaining illegal betting and gambling operations," the report suggested.
It recommended stricter controls on digital media channels that drive user acquisition, tighter financial regulations to block illicit transactions, and enhanced enforcement mechanisms to ensure the long-term disruption of illegal betting networks.
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