Betting Site Lotus365 goes big on full-page & outdoor ads despite ban; netizens share evidence, demand action

New Delhi: Despite a blanket ban on the score of betting and gaming apps including Lotus365, Betway, Fun88 & more such portals, they continue operations with immunity and also take big leaps to expand their businesses, reports a leading business daily.

Lotus365, a popular cricket betting app emerged popular among fans but recently got struck down by the government in a blanket ban. However, this hasn’t deterred the betting app’s intentions and aspirations of growing further. Even today, the app is getting full-page advertisements published in newspapers and on websites. Netizens have shared proof of this syndicate operating with impunity and now demanding action against the app.

Lotus 365 Ad ?#TejRan #TejRanStory#TejasswiPrakash #KaranKundrra @kkundrra @itsmetejasswi ❤️? pic.twitter.com/h7gKY6E6ZP

— TejRan Story (@TejRanStory) May 24, 2023

Lotus365’s advertisements can be seen on huge hoardings on roads and bus stops and the public is finding it as a bad influence. The betting site continues to attract thousands of users and has hiked its advertisements in the IPL season. According to a report, Hyderabad police announced registering criminal cases against Lotus 365 and the advertising agency for promoting gambling using advertising space.

દિવ્યભાસ્કર 19/05/2023@DainikBhaskar જો ભારત સરકારે LOTUS365 પર પ્રતિબંધ લગાવ્યો છે તો આપ કેમ આ જાહેરાત છાપી રહ્યા છો…..@dgpgujarat pic.twitter.com/s7pgSQkrhp

— BharatGadhiya (@Mgadhiya2) May 21, 2023

#ખણખોદ

કેંદ્રએ ફેબ્રુઆરીમાં 138 જેટલી ચીની એપ્લિકેશનો પર પ્રતિબંધ ફરમાવ્યો હતો જેમાંથી Lotus365 એપ. પણ એક છે.#AhmedabadPolice ઓનલાઈન બેટિંગ કરતા લોકો વિરુદ્ધ ગુના નોંધે છે પરંતુ પોલીસના નાકની નીચે પોસ્ટરો લગાવનાર વિરુદ્ધ કોઈ કાર્યવાહી નહીં! #AMTSએ કેમ પોસ્ટરની મંજૂરી આપી ? pic.twitter.com/YrJ7Zha2Ae

— jayesh cHauHaN (@JournoJayesh) May 20, 2023

@narendramodi @myogioffice मैं भारत सरकार से जानना चाहता हूं ये App कैसे trusted हुआ कृपया करके ऐसे App पर बैन लगाया जाए. ऐसे App आज की genration को खराब कर रहे है जुआ का प्रमोशन कर के आज के genration ऐसे गेम्स पर पैसा लगाते है और जादा पैसे हारने पर सुसाइड कर लेते है#lotus365 etc pic.twitter.com/bZjq8v2sam

— pratham singh (@prathamgaur2005) May 26, 2023

Centre announced the amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and tightened the grip on online gaming and betting portals. As per the new rules, intermediaries have to make a reasonable effort not to share, host, or publish any online game that can be harmful or is not permissible by online gaming self-regulatory bodies.

Despite, the amendments to the IT Rules 2021, Lotus365 continues to publish its ads in newspapers and websites while celebrities including Neha Sharma, Tejasswi Prakash, and Urvashi Rautela have been endorsing the brand.

Lotus365 was among the 138 Chinese-affiliated betting platforms banned by the government but the company changed its domain from lotus.com to lotus.in and kept on functioning by shifting its users to WhatsApp. While the legitimacy of these portals is a different question, the promotion of betting sites despite bringing in new rules and norms has outraged the public.