High Stakes, Higher Costs: The Dark Side of India’s Betting Boom

India is experiencing an unprecedented rise in sports betting addiction, driven by the hyper speed expansion of online betting websites and fantasy sports apps. It started as harmless distraction for some, now an addiction spreading to millions—across age groups, cities, and social classes.

 

Key Highlights:

 

•⁠  ⁠India has 140 million frequent online gamblers, and numbers swell to 370 million during events like the IPL. Cricket generates 85% of fantasy gaming revenue, and thus is the center of betting addiction.

 

•⁠  ⁠Psychologists diagnose a steady increase in young Indians reporting to receive treatment for betting addiction, especially during the IPL seasons. People searching for "IPL addiction," "how to quit gambling," and "rehab for gambling addiction" on Google have been on the rise since 2015.

 

•⁠  ⁠There are increasing instances of financial disaster: life savings have been lost by families, debt spirals have been triggered by individuals, and lethal accidents—suicides among them—have been triggered by compulsive gambling.

 

•⁠  ⁠The industry growth is driven by smartphone penetration, convenient digital payments, and aggressive advertising, and real money gaming currently represents 86% of India's $3.7 billion gaming market.

 

•⁠  ⁠Regulatory loopholes and the fungibility between skill gaming and gambling complicate it for consumers to differentiate between irresponsible offshore operators and legal, responsible websites.

 

Prospect Unless there is stronger regulation and greater public awareness, India's sports betting habit is going to worsen. Experts are calling on policymakers to act quickly, engage in responsible gaming, and make low-cost treatment for addiction available to avoid social and financial damage.

 

Source: India Today, DW, Economic Times, Al Jazeera, Statista