Rs 8.3 Lakh Crore Market: Inside India's Illegal Online Betting Apps

NDTV

a day ago

New Delhi:
Cricketer Suresh Raina was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate Wednesday over his endorsement - he is reportedly the brand ambassador - of 1xBet, an illegal online betting app.
The ED is investigating money laundering charges against several such apps - including Lotus65 and FairPlay, and associated betting platforms like 1xBat - and has expanded inquiries to include celebrities, like Mr Raina and Bollywood actor Urvashi Rautela, who endorse them.
Among the questions Mr Raina will be expected to answer are:
What role did you play in the promotion of 1xBet? Did you promote any other such platform?
Do you have any contract with, or records of monetary transaction related to, 1xBet or 'surrogate' platforms like 1xBat? How, and through which company and account, were you paid?
Did you or your representatives check the legal status of these platforms? Were you aware their algorithms are written in a way that classifies them as 'gambling' and not 'skill-based games'?
Did you know that this makes platforms like 1xBet illegal under Indian law?
Did you, directly or indirectly, interact with the operators of 1xBet? Did you promote these platforms even in states where online betting is completely banned?
At least two other cricketers - Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh - are also being investigated, as are popular actors like Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, and Manchu Lakshmi.
Sources told NDTV the purpose is to establish if they, and other celebrities promoting these and other illegal online betting apps and websites, were aware of their illegal nature.
Online Betting Apps: The Numbers
Sources told NDTV a staggering 22 crore people across the country have downloaded these illegal apps on their smartphones, and at least half are regular users, i.e., they bet every day.
And access isn't restricted to mobile devices.
In January-March 2025, illegal betting websites received over 150 crore visitors.
Overall, this 'market' is now worth Rs 8.3 lakh crore and is growing at a rate of 30 per cent every year. And top-tier betting apps cost the government Rs 27,000 crore in taxes every year.
Online Betting Apps: The Tragedy
The ED has said these platforms present themselves as hosting 'skill-based' games but use rigged algorithms that mean they run 'gambling' games under Indian laws.
And the lure of that 'fast money' - advertisements routinely show celebrities making tens of thousands, if not lakhs, in mere seconds - leads individuals and families to financial ruin.
In December last year the World Health Organization said gambling can 'threaten health, lead to increased incidence of mental illness and suicide'. In its advisory, the health body said gambling 'drives poverty by diverting household spending from essential goods and services'.
The WHO also called out 'the rapid normalization of gambling... through commercialization and digitization' and said 'sponsorship and marketing are also key factors in rapid global growth'.
In India there are reports, almost daily, of deaths due to gambling debts. In June, for example, a young Rajasthan couple allegedly died by suicide after incurring debts of Rs 5 lakh.
Deepak Rathore from Kota used to bet on his smartphone. A day before his wife and he were found dead, Mr Rathore told his sister, 'I have no option left except to die...'
Last month a 24-year-old software professional from Hyderabad died by suicide after running up multiple debts playing rummy, the card game, online. And in January two men allegedly died by suicide, in separate incidents, after struggling for years with their gambling problems.
Online Betting Apps: The Focus
Preliminary inquiries by the federal agency - in these and other cases - suggest multiple laws are being violated, including the Information Technology (IT) Act, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Investigations into this murky space have been hampered by the 'here today, gone tomorrow' nature of these platforms. Should suspicion fall on one, for example, that website or app is simply shut down and a new one is then launched, often with only marginally different branding.
And the owner/operators of these platforms are routinely based abroad, making it difficult for Indian law enforcement, whether the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation, to catch them.
They often set up base in countries with lax gambling laws or where gambling is legal.
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And when Indian authorities close in, as they did in the Mahadev betting app case, in which former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was named, they shift base to another.
Mr Baghel denied any link to the scam and called the allegations 'politically motivated', coming, as they did, before a state election in 2023 and the 2024 Lok Sabha poll.
Against that backdrop, the ED is also looking at the responsibility of software companies and social media platforms that host or promote these illegal betting apps and websites.
Some of the questions the agency is now asking are:
Did companies like Google and Meta deliberately promote betting apps?
Did these platforms profit from advertisements?
Specifically, the agency suspects tech firms like these may have played a role, inadvertently or otherwise, in enabling these apps by not vetting advertisers and allowing promotional content.
So far, neither Google nor Meta has publicly commented on the investigation.