MPL parent serves ASCI Rs 50-crore defamation notice over ‘Opinion Trading’ whitepaper

New Delhi: Galactus Funware Technology, the Bengaluru-based parent company of Mobile Premier League (MPL), has served a legal notice to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) demanding the immediate withdrawal of ASCI’s recent whitepaper “Examining Opinion Trading in India” and seeking Rs 50 crore in damages for alleged defamation and loss of goodwill, ET Brand Equity has reported.

In the 11-page notice dated 23 May 2025 and issued through law firm Trilegal, Galactus Funware accuses ASCI of publishing a “biased and unsubstantiated” study that relies on “tampered” screenshots of MPL advertisements. 

The company claimed disclaimers in the original creatives were deliberately removed and that an educational YouTube still, highlighting “Skill, Interest, Knowledge,” was edited to suggest financial risk, thereby misleading readers about the platform’s real-money gaming model, stated the report.

The notice also questioned ASCI’s authority to judge the legality or skill component of opinion-trading games, arguing that such determinations lie with the courts. 

Galactus Funware noted that multiple high court cases on opinion trading are pending and that the Supreme Court has stayed proceedings, rendering ASCI’s conclusions premature and outside its charter. 

Galactus Funware has given the self-regulatory body three days to remove the whitepaper from the public domain, warning that failure to comply will trigger civil and criminal proceedings as well as additional compensation “for every day of continued publication.”

An ASCI spokesperson confirmed receipt of the notice but denied any wrongdoing, insisting there was “absolutely no question of tampering” with the advertising material cited in the study. 

Opinion trading—often described as a real-money game in which players predict real-world outcomes—has drawn increasing scrutiny from regulators and consumer-protection groups. 

ASCI’s May 2025 whitepaper positioned the category as involving “elements of risk” comparable to wagering, a characterisation Galactus Funware rejects as “sensationalist” and commercially damaging.