Novi’s Advertising Policy on Games, Virtual Digital Assets and Brand Extensions

This Policy applies where Clients (as defined in the Advertising Service Terms and Conditions, available here   and referred to as  “Terms” in this document)  use the Services to advertise Games (as defined below) or Virtual Digital Assets (as defined below) or Brand Extensions (as defined below). All capitalised terms in this document shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Advertising Service Terms and Conditions.

1   “Game(s)” shall include poker (an online card game inter alia in which a minimum of 2 and maximum of 9 players use 1 card deck where players compete for the best hand of cards, played including Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hold’em) and rummy (an online card game inter alia with 13 cards per player, also known as Indian Rummy, in which a minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 10 players are expected to make melds from the cards dealt to them) and fantasy online games, operated at all times in accordance with Applicable Law.

2   “Brand Extension (s)” shall mean to include such product or service which have the same name that of a brand, the advertisement of which is prohibited or violative under applicable laws (e.g., liquor and tobacco).

3  A Client shall comply with (and shall ensure advertisers comply with) the following terms when advertising services related to Games:

(a)  it (and the Advertiser, as applicable) shall not run, own, or operate any website or application that promotes or is related to gambling or betting in any manner;

(b)  the Games being advertised are games of skill which are offered only to individuals who have attained the age of majority in accordance with Applicable Laws, and in territories other than states of India where the Games are prohibited. Such aspects should be included within the terms and conditions or policies of the portals on which the Games are made available (  “Portals” );

(C)  the Advertising Creative(s) shall comply with ASCI’s rules and regulations and shall include the following:

(i)  a disclaimer stating that (aa) “the Games involve an element of financial risk and may be addictive and (bb) “Play Responsibly and at your own risk”;

(ii)  in the case of audio-visual Advertising Creatives, the disclaimer specified above shall be placed at a normal speaking pace at the end of the Advertising Creative, be in the same language as the Advertising Creative, and must be in both, audio and visual formats;

(iii)  in the case of a static Advertising Creative, such disclaimer must (aa) occupy no less than 20% of the space in the Advertising Creative, (bb) be in the same language as the Advertising Creative, (cc) be in the same font as the Advertising Creative or ‘sans serif’ for better readability and not in italics, (dd) be in the same direction as the majority of the text copy in the Advertising Creative, such that no rotation of head or medium is required to read the advisory and along the natural reading direction of the rest of the Advertising Creative, and (ee) satisfy the following visual presentation requirements in terms of contrast and colour: (xx) be in a colour that contrasts with the background of the Advertising Creative, such that it allows the text to be clearly legible and (yy) not be designed in a way that the text keeps fading in and out of vision. In such cases, the text should be placed on an opaque single-coloured block;

(d)  neither the Portal nor Client (and advertiser, as applicable) shall permit, aid, or facilitate any side bets or proposition bets;

(e)  neither the Advertising Creative(s) nor the Portal shall (i) promote any game or activity which is illegal or prohibited by Applicable Laws, (ii) explicitly or implicitly suggest that a player will win every time they play the Game, (iii) promote or encourage excessive gaming, (iv) promote, suggest, or present the playing of the Game to be a way to solve financial difficulties, achieve financial security, or act as an alternative to employment or income opportunities, (v) state that the Game is a way to gain social superiority or take priority over other aspects of life, (vi) depict any individual who has not or appears to have not attained the age of majority engaged in playing the Games, (vii) suggest that any individual who has not attained the age of majority can play the Games, or (viii) suggest that a person engaged in the playing the Games is in any way more successful as compared to others;

(f)  the software of the Games and/or the Portal has not been and shall not be tampered or manipulated with in any manner whatsoever, including but not limited to tampering or manipulation which changes or violates the rules of the Game, the terms and conditions of the Portal, and/or provides itself or all or any players of the Game with an unfair or undue advantage;

(g)  if applicable, the random number generator or software of the Portal and/or Games for shuffling and/or dealing of cards has been certified by a reputable third-party auditor; and

4  A Client shall comply with (and shall ensure advertisers comply with) the following terms when advertising services related to cryptocurrencies or non-fungible tokens or such other digital assets (“Virtual Digital Assets” or “VDA”):

(a)  applicable for advertisers who are in the business of offering services related to VDA the Client and the advertiser comply and shall comply with Applicable Laws including all requisite regulations and/or registration requirements including know your customer norms or any other similar mechanisms prescribed by any VDA exchange(s) where the VDA is traded at all times or as may be prescribed under any Applicable Laws.

(b)  The words “currency”, “securities”, “custodian” and “depositories” may not be used in the Advertising Creatives of VDA products or services as consumers associate these terms with regulated products.

(c)  The information contained in the Advertising Creatives shall not contradict the information or warnings that the regulated entities provide to customers in the marketing of VDA products from time to time.

(d)  Advertising Creatives that provide information on the cost or profitability of VDA products shall contain clear, accurate, sufficient and updated information. For example, “zero cost” will need to include all costs that the consumer might reasonably associate with the offer or transaction

(e)  Information on past performance shall not be provided in any partial or biased manner. Returns for periods of less than 12 months shall not be included.

(f)  The Advertising Creative for VDA products must clearly give out the name of the Advertiser and provide an easy way to contact them (phone number or email). This information should be presented in a manner that is easily understood by the average consumer.

(g)  The Advertising Creative for VDA products or exchanges may show a minor, or someone who appears to be a minor, directly dealing with the product, or talking about the product.

(h)  The Advertising Creative may show that VDA products or VDA trading could be a solution to money problems, personality problems or other such drawbacks.

(i)  The Advertising Creative shall contain statements that promise or guarantee future increase in profits.

(j)  The Advertising Creative may show that understanding VDA products is so easy that consumers do not have to think twice about investing. Nothing in the Advertising Creative should downplay the risks associated with the category.

(k)  VDA products may not be compared to any other asset class which is regulated.

(l)  The Client shall ensure that the Advertising Creative carries the following disclaimer as prescribed by ASCI:   “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.”  Such a disclaimer must be made in the following manner so that it is PROMINENT and UNMISSABLE by an average consumer:

(i)  In print or static, equal to at least 1/5th of the advertising space at the bottom of the advertisement in an easy to read font, against a plain background, and to the maximum font size afforded by the space.

(ii)  In video, the disclaimer should be placed at the end of the advertisement against a plain background. A voiceover must accompany the disclaimer in text. The voiceover should be at a normal speaking pace and must not be hurried. In the case of long format video of over two minutes, the said disclaimer should be repeated at the beginning and at the end of the video. The disclaimer must remain on screen for a minimum of five seconds.

(iii)  In audio, the disclaimer must be spoken at the end of the advertisement. The voiceover should be at a normal speaking pace and must not be hurried. In the case of long format audio of over 90 seconds, the said disclaimer should be repeated at the beginning and at the end of the audio.

(iv)  In formats where there is a limit on characters, the following shortened disclaimer must be used “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and risky” followed by a link to the full disclaimer.

(v)  The disclaimer must be made in the dominant language of the advertisement.

5  A Client shall comply with (and shall ensure Advertisers comply with) the following terms when advertising services related to Brand Extensions:

(a)  the advertisement of the Brand Extension provided to Novi for the purposes of advertising on its platform(s) complies with rules and regulations prescribed by the Advertising Standards Council of India (“ASCI”) and the Code of Self-Regulation in Advertising, including that the said Brand Extension is (as maybe applicable for a product or service):

(i)  distributed in reasonable quantity and is available in a substantial number of outlets where other products of the same category are available;

(ii)  registered with an appropriate Government authority, besides the Advertiser’s company registration;

(iii)  the scale of advertising of such an extension is as per section 2 of ASCI’s ‘Guidelines for Qualification of Brand Extension- Product or Service’ dated November 23, 2023, as may be amended from time to time, to qualify as a genuine Brand Extension

(iv) If present in the market for more than 2 years, the Client/Advertiser represents and warrants that the product / services advertised under the Brand Extension meets the requirement set forth in section 1(A) of ASCI’s ‘Guidelines for Qualification of Brand Extension- Product or Service’ dated November 23, 2023, as may be amended from time to time, to qualify as a genuine Brand Extension.

(v)  If present in the market for less than 2 years, the Client/Advertiser represents and warrants that the product / services advertised under the Brand Extension meets at least one of the requirement set forth in section 1(B) of ASCI’s ‘Guidelines for Qualification of Brand Extension- Product or Service’ dated November 23, 2023, as may be amended from time to time, to qualify as a genuine Brand Extension

(b)  Upon request, the Client shall provide a valid certificate from a reputed independent auditing and/or accounting firm, confirming that the requirements prescribed by ASCI have been complied with by the Advertiser/Client in respect of the advertising of the said Product on the Platform.

(c)  Novi shall have the right to immediately stop airing the advertisement of the Brand Extension product/service, terminate the Agreement without any further liability to the Client, in the event of any notice, any order or direction from any governmental authority alleging non-compliance of the foregoing. The parties agree that Novi shall not be required to refund any amounts that may have been paid by the Client in such instances.