Consumer Advocacy Groups Push for Ban on Opinion Trading Platforms in India

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Leading consumer advocacy groups, including the New Indian Consumer Initiative (NICI), have urged the Indian government to ban opinion trading platforms, citing consumer harm and misleading advertisements.

According to a Storyboard 18 report, NICI, along with prominent organizations, submitted a joint representation to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs. The petition demands an immediate prohibition of opinion trading platforms, labeling them as disguised betting services that exploit consumers.

Rising Concerns Over Consumer Exploitation and Misleading Advertisements

The representation highlights how these platforms mislead users by marketing themselves as investment opportunities while exposing them to financial and psychological risks. Ramjibai Mavani, Former Member of Parliament and Founder of Rajkot Jilla Grahak Suraksha Mandal, and Prof. Dr. Duraisingam, Chairman of Consumer Research, Education, Action, Training & Empowerment (CREATE), emphasized the need for strict regulation to protect vulnerable consumers.

Abhishek Kumar, Convenor of NICI, stated, “Through this joint representation, we urge the government to prohibit opinion trading in India and take decisive action, including issuing interim measures to prevent consumer harm, banning digital and social media advertisements, and prohibiting app stores, cloud service providers, and payment gateways from supporting these platforms. We also urge the Central Consumer Protection Authorities to investigate misleading claims and call on law enforcement agencies to freeze assets linked to these platforms.”

Opinion trading platforms allow users to wager money on real-world event outcomes, mimicking financial markets but operating as gambling services. With an estimated annual trading volume exceeding ₹50,000 crore and more than five crore Indian users, these platforms often misrepresent themselves as skill-based games. However, the binary nature of wagers makes them predominantly chance-based, raising concerns about their legality under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which prohibits unauthorized betting and gambling.

The representation further criticized the platforms’ advertising practices, which often imply regulatory oversight and use financial terms like “Auto Profits” and “Stop Loss” to create an illusion of structured investments. Influencer promotions also falsely portray earnings as risk-free, potentially violating ASCI and Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) guidelines.

Beyond financial risks, the platforms can lead to stress, compulsive behavior, and the normalization of gambling culture, particularly among economically vulnerable groups. Several countries have already imposed strict regulations or outright bans on such platforms.

The coalition has called for swift government action to protect consumer rights, including the right to be informed, heard, educated, and safeguarded from misleading financial products.

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