In India, fantasy gaming is causing addiction and financial ruin

Kol’s father, a construction labourer in Sidhi district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, had borrowed the money from the community leaders in his village to pay for the coaching classes where his son was enrolled to prepare for national competitive exams for government jobs. Kol, 25, said that one of his friends suggested he bet on these apps, which offer the opportunity to earn large sums of money. Initially, he won a few thousand rupees but then became greedy and lost everything.Kol’s name has been changed to protect his identity.

Kol, who lives in a one-room apartment with books scattered everywhere and a small kitchen in one corner, told Al Jazeera that he was hoping to win money from his betting and return it to the village elders.

He said, “My family is extremely poor. They somehow managed to gather this much money for my fees. I thought I would win money in this app and return his money. However, when I invested my money in these apps, I lost it. Now, I am getting suicidal thoughts” because he is worried about how he will return the money, he said.

Kol is not the only one who is addicted to these apps.Prateek Kumar, a 16-year-old teen from the same area and an ardent cricket fan has developed a habit of betting on fantasy gaming apps.

His father Lalji Dwivedi is a small farmer and earns about 6,000 to 7,000 rupees ($73 to $85) a month. He told Al Jazeera that his son is hooked on cricket and watches all the matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket’s most lucrative domestic tournament and which counts some of these gaming apps as its sponsors. Dwivedi blames the ads for luring his son into the gaming world.

“He got influenced by an advertisement during the breaks, and he started using fantasy gaming apps to bet every day,” Dwivedi said. “Now, before each match, he asks me to give him money to bet on these apps. When I refuse to give him money, he gets upset.”In recent years, fantasy gaming apps have exploded in popularity in India, with millions of users joining platforms such as Dream11, My11Circle and MPL, among others. These apps offer users the chance to create virtual teams of real-life athletes and compete against others based on the performance of these athletes, with the chance to win cash prizes or other rewards.However, the lack of regulatory authority and the massive advertising campaigns by these platforms have led to concerns about the addictive nature of these apps and the potential harm they can cause to users, particularly children and vulnerable individuals.

Prateek’s favourite apps are Dream11 and My11Circle, his father said. They require a user to be 18 years old to be able to play, but that hasn’t deterred Prateek who used his father’s ID to sign up on both apps.

Al Jazeera’s emails to Dream11, My11Circle and the industry body the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, went unanswered.