WinZO Responds To ASCI's Notice On Ad Violations

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), had screened 35 ads from online gaming category across TV and over-the-top channels and identified 14 to be in potential violation of its guidelines. 

In its communication to the media, the advertising watch dog had named 7 brands including Fairplay, MyCircle11, Gamezy, Betway, MPL, Junglee Rummy, and WinZO to have been in potential violation of its code for online real money gaming advertisments, issued in November 2020.

In an statement to us, WinZO claims to have not received any such communication or notice from the regulatory body. 

"WinZO has received no communication from ASCI over any violation and seeing this in media is not well recieved by our brand.", said the company. 

The guidelines issued by ASCI include refrain from using representations of minors, presentation as alternate income or success, and mandatory inclusion of disclaimer mentioning financial risks in 20 percent of the ad space at normal speaking pace. 

"According to our interpretation of the prescribed guidelines, our ads are not in violation of any of them. Including our name without following the due process is highly concerning as we are heavily investing to build the brand and a sector on sustainable and trusted values.", the company added. 

ASCI, however, maintains that it has intimidated all brands found to be in potential violation via an email notification on 13th April. 

"ASCI noticed that a number of brands and advertisers were flouting the guidelines on real-money gaming. Winzo was intimated via email on April 13th 2022 about its advertisement being in potential violation of ASCI’s guidelines on real-money-gaming. As per our process, all companies will be given due time by ASCI to respond to the complaint before it is reviewed by the consumer complaints council.", the advertising watchdog said in an exchange with us.

Sources within the industry have also raised concerns on the exclusion of certain brands in the list of violates. They claim that brands like Dream11 run similar ads but weren't scrutinized akin. Dream11 has been noted to be the largest spenders on advertising in the online real money gaming industry.

"We plan on taking the same up with ASCI via appropriate channels to ensure we are not dragged into such matters baselessly in future. We expect such honoured Industry bodies to be more sensitive to the credibility and efforts of businesses.", the gaming platform added.