Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Deverakonda issue clarification in betting app

Actors booked for promoting betting apps have now come forward and issued clarifications regarding their alleged involvement. The case pertains to a complaint filed by a 32-year-old businessman who claimed that the actors and social media influencers have been endorsing betting apps and are responsible for the moral corruption and financial distress of many individuals.

The list of actors booked includes Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda, and Prakash Raj, who have been booked with 22 others under Section 318(4), 112 r/w 49 BNS, 3, 3(A), 4 TSGA, and 66 D of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.

Clarification from the actors

The three actors have issued a clarification. Rana Daggubati’s team said that his endorsements were done with “full compliance with the law”. The statement also added that the actor contracted a company to serve as the brand ambassador for skill-based gaming platforms. His contract ended in 2017, further stressing that Rana’s promotional work was exclusively for regions where such skill-based gaming activities were legal. His team also clarified that all of his endorsements are thoroughly reviewed before any partnership or deal is finalised.

A similar statement was also released by Vijay Devarakonda’s team, which also stated that all his associations are thoroughly reviewed before any agreements are finalised. His team further added that games like Rummy have been recognised by the Supreme Court as distinct from gambling or gaming. Citing the court’s order, it said that the games were made legally permissible since they involved skill and not chance.

Actor Prakash Raj, on the other hand, posted a video on his social media platform X account in which he admitted to doing an advertisement for a gaming app, however, he later denied it as it did not feel right to him. He said that he has not received any summons from the police station yet and when that happens, he will be responding to the concerned agencies. Issuing a clarification for his fans, he said that back in 2016, he was approached for an advertisement for a gaming app and he did it. However, in a few months, he thought it was not right and after the contract ended, he denied renewing it.

Assuring his fans, he said that the incident happened around eight or nine years ago and since then, he has not been involved in any such ads which promote gambling. However, in 2021-2022, the company must have been sold to someone else, who did use his snippets on a few social media handles, and a notice by his team was sent to them, following which they stopped.