While the global sports betting industry is booming like crazy, India is similarly experiencing rapid growth in searches for gambling addiction on internet alarms public health community. Recently a new study from researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Bryn Mawr College reports on a 23% spike in Google search terms for gambling disorder since 2018-when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized sports betting.
This in sync with India, where the meteoric rise of online betting / gambling platforms and results-based gains across cricket has raised similar anxieties.
Cricket is a religion in India, and that is why sports betting apps and IPL advertisements are encouraging the youth to gamble (think IROs version of sports betting). Ease of use with online betting platforms is increasing the addiction, leading experts to say searches on certain terms like “online gambling addiction” or “hotline for gambling” skyrocket during big sports events. 
Delhi-based Psychologist Dr Anjali Sharma has also said, “Adverting the betting as glamorous and ignorance on risk factor is fuelling a public health emergency”. We must have immediate rule based solutions and awareness raising to tackle this.
India has no overarching legal regime for gaming, or so despite having Sikkim and Nagaland that have legalized it game of Fastrack. But the bottleneck is that there are no adequate interventions for addiction.
Gambling addiction is under attack from lawmakers around the world. Now in the U.S., a new bill proposes to fund federal treatment and research for addiction. Indian experts call for the same, emphasizing the importance of regulator-supporting collaborations between regulators, health organizations and the gaming industry to mitigate the long-term consequences of gambling harm.
As the world grapples with this growing crisis, India must act swiftly to balance the economic benefits of legalized betting with the urgent need to protect its citizens from addiction.
