The Indian government has banned 122 illegal betting apps and websites, including the Mahadev app, as part of efforts to crack down on unlawful operations. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had previously conducted searches and alleged that the app’s promoters had amassed as much as Rs 5,000 crore ($670 million) through the platform. The ban comes after earlier action by the government, which has already banned over 100 lending and betting apps earlier this year. In addition, the Information Technology Rules of 2021 now prohibit any game that involves betting or wagering on outcomes in India.
The government has banned 122 illegal betting apps and websites. The ministry of electronics and information technology issued the order on Sunday (November 5) to block the operations of the Mahadev app, reddyannaofficial.in and 20 other apps and websites. The ban followed Enforcement Directorate (ED) action.
Names of the apps banned
The names include Mahadev Book Online, reddyannaofficial.in and Reddyannaprestopro.
Other names are not known.
What exactly is Mahadev Book Online app
According to the ED, Mahadev Book provides online platforms for illegal betting in different live games such as poker and other card games, chance games, cricket, badminton, tennis, football and others; even providing an avenue to bet on different elections in India. “Mahadev Online Book Betting App is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enroll new users, create User IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts. ED has recently conducted widespread searches against the money laundering networks linked with the Mahadev App in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai etc. and retrieved large amounts of incriminating evidence and has frozen/seized proceeds of crime worth ₹417 crore” as per an earlier statement from ED.
Sources in the ED claimed that the app’s main promoters — Sourabh Chandrakar, 28, and Ravi Uppal, 43, who hail from Bhilai — are based out of Dubai and may have amassed as much as Rs 5,000 crore through the platform. In its prosecution complaint (PC), which is equivalent to a charge sheet, the ED had alleged that the Mahadev app was running a franchise-type model in which the panel was outsourced in a 70-30% profit-sharing ratio.
Is the Mahadev app new
As per reports, the app began its operations in 2017 and peaked its popularity during the COVID pandemic.
Why ban on these apps
The action follows investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against illegal betting app syndicate and subsequent raids on Mahadev Book in Chhattisgarh, revealing the app’s unlawful operations, the IT ministry said in a statement. The ED had earlier alleged that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was paid Rs 508 crore by a cash courier sent from the United Arab Emirates by the promoters of the Mahadev app. So far, the ED has reportedly arrested four persons and made seizures worth over Rs 450 crore per month by offering illegal bets through a cache of online applications.
‘Political connection’
“Chhattisgarh government had all the power to recommend shutting down of website/app under Sec 69A IT Act,” minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. “However, they did not do so, and no such request is made by the state government while they have been investigating it for the last 1.5 years.”
138 apps banned in March
The number adds to 100-plus lending and betting apps banned by the government earlier this year. In March, the IT ministry had issued similar orders to bar the operations of 138 betting and gambling apps on an “urgent” and “emergency” basis for “improper data storage and transfer” to other countries as well as money laundering.
Ban on betting games in April
A month later, the IT ministry amended the Information Technology Rules of 2021 to provide a framework for permissible and non-permissible online games. These rules rendered the debate of games of skill and chance infructuous. Any game that involved betting or wagering on the outcome of a situation would not be allowed to operate in India, they stipulated.