Zepto displayed advertisements for Parimatch in the middle of the Indian Premier League or IPL season. MediaNama, an illegal betting platform has learned. The company has declined to comment on the matter.
This follows closely on the heels of Uber cabs displaying advertisements for 1xBet in Delhi and Mumbai. 1xBet is another illegal offshore betting entity.
Parimatch is also headquartered in Cyprus, just like 1xBet. Ramping up their activity during peak events such as IPL, these platforms operate numerous mirror sites simultaneously.
Even though Parimatch has no official presence in India, it maintains visibility by digital advertising–blurring the lines between legal and illegal operators and making revenue leakage inevitable.
India restricted 1xBet and Parimatch as illegal offshore gambling entities in 2023. The MeitY or Ministry of Electronics blocked a total of 581 applications under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000. This includes 174 linked to betting and gambling.
Zepto, just like other quick commerce companies, relies on Foreign Direct Investment or FDI to quickly scale its operations. The startup holds a 21% market share, received Rs. 2,763 crore in FDI and recorded a 44% year-over-year or YoY growth.
Zepto operates under FDI regulations as a marketplace model of e-commerce, acting only as a facilitator between sellers and customers. Nonetheless, the Confederation of All India Traders has alleged that the company directly sells products to consumers, bypassing third-party sellers. This would align the operations of Zepto, if true, with inventory-based e-commerce model, which is ineligible for FDI under consolidated regulations and the Foreign Exchange Management Act or FEMA of 1999.
Furthermore, about Zepto Café, the in-house brand of the platform, food and beverage items ordered on the portal do not display the manufacturer’s or seller’s name on the interface. Regardless, FDI regulations require marketplace-based e-commerce companies to disclose the name of the seller, address, and contact details.
