A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on online betting apps has forced India’s Supreme Court into talks with the likes of Google and Apple.

Dr K.A. Paul, the individual who filed the litigation, did so with the goal of safeguarding Indian youth and vulnerable people from unregulated online gambling.

Betting and gaming products are being ‘disguised as fantasy sports and skill-based games”, Paul and the other litigation issuers noted in their reasoning.

Within the PIL, there’s two high-profile cases referred to where online betting has led to some nefarious results. 

The first involves 25 celebrities, including Bollywood actors, cricketers and influencers, allegedly promoting betting apps in a covert matter earlier in March, with the investigation still ongoing.

The second takes notice of a news article from the state of Telangana, where it’s said that 24 people took their lives as a result of debts incurred from online betting.

Paul and others are urging for the introduction of a uniform legislation for the regulation of online betting “in the name of the larger public interest to safeguard the youth of India from the unregulated, exploitative, and dangerous online betting industry operating under the garb of fantasy sports and skill-based gaming”. 

Supreme Court Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi have now begun consultations on the matter with the Reserve Bank of India, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Private entities with interests in the fantasy sports and online betting scene have also been contacted, such as app store monopolists Google and Apple, as well as major game platforms like A23 Games, Dream11, and Mobile Premier League.

The plea comes at a time when Google is considering relaxing its Real Money Games (RMG) policies for its India Play Store after initial plans to do so were put on hold last year – with the core reason being that India lacks a centralised regulatory framework for gambling.

In another recent development, though it is unclear whether it’s connected to the above, the Enforcement Directorate of India has summoned Google representatives to a hearing related to a suspected case of money laundering through online betting apps listed on the Play Store.

As it stands only three Indian states have regulated online gaming markets, Goa, Daman, and Sikkim. There were murmurs that another state, Karnataka, may launch a mixed market, but it appears that the state government’s ideal regulatory framework would only cover fantasy sports and some ‘games of skill’ like rummy, omitting and essentially banning online sports betting.

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