In March 2025, Cyberabad police registered an FIR against 29 celebrities, including Tollywood actors and YouTubers, for allegedly promoting illegal betting apps that encouraged people to invest their hard-earned money, leading to a financial mess. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is currently conducting an investigation to determine whether any Tollywood actors are involved in the promotion of these illegal betting platforms.
Vijay Deverakonda’s name was also listed in the FIR. Earlier, the actor’s PR team issued a statement clarifying that his endorsement was solely for skill-based games that are legally permitted. Now the ED issued summons to the Kingdom actor, asking him to appear before them.
After his session with the ED today, Vijay Deverakonda spoke to the media. He stated, “ED is now conducting an investigation into betting apps. Even they don’t know why my name was listed in the FIR. Since my name came up, they called me to clarify things. I endorsed a gaming app called A23. It is in no way related to betting apps. Gaming apps are completely legal, recognized by the government, licensed as a business, and also have GST and TDS.”
The actor added, “A23 is just like My11Circle and Dream11. These are all registered gaming apps that sponsor the Indian Cricket Team, the Indian Olympic Team, IPL, and various Kabaddi leagues. Wouldn’t a gaming app sponsoring the Olympic team be required to comply with laws? I request that the media houses differentiate between gaming and betting apps. I even provided all the documentation to the ED.”