All you want to know about opinion trading platforms

Trade on opinion-based platforms for cash prizes, but beware of potential legal and regulatory risks associated with gambling allegations.
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On Tuesday, the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India issued a public warning against “opinion trading platforms”, which allow users to engage in transactions based on the outcome of specific events. Let’s deep dive into what these platforms are all about.

What are opinion trading platforms? 

Such platforms provide their users and participants a platform to trade or enter into arrangements wherein the payout is dependent on the outcome of a yes/no proposition of happening or not happening of the underlying event. In some cases, opinion trading platforms are designed in a manner so as to resemble an investment platform as they use terminologies such as profits, stop loss and trading, terms closely associated with the securities market.

How do they work?

These apps allow you to answer simple questions based on your opinions and earn cash prizes. You can choose from different sports and games like cricket, football, basketball and participate in various contests and leagues. For example, in IPL 2025, an opinion trading app might ask: “Will Virat Kohli score a fifty in his next match?” You can choose Yes or No based on your prediction. Or you could be asked to predict the winner of a match of a political event. If your answer turns out to be correct, you win money. There could be various tournaments of different difficulty levels, allowing users to win different amounts. Some of the popular apps include Real11, MPL Opinio, Sportsbaazi and Probo.

What is the size of the market?

These platforms have grown exponentially in recent years, engaging over five crore Indian users and registering over ₹50,000 crore in transaction volumes annually, and revenues projected to be around ₹1,000 crore for 2024-25, according to Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

Are these platforms legal?

According to one of the players, the platform is safe and legit, offering earnings on expertise in a particular sport. It follows all legal and regulatory requirements, protecting personal and financial information. The platforms even offer instant withdrawal and deposit options such as UPI, Paytm and Amazon Pay. There are disclaimers put up such as: “This game may be habit forming or financially risky. Play responsibly.” Only those above 18 years of age are allowed to participate.

However, some believe that these platforms allow users to speculate on outcomes of future events and are akin to gambling. Advertisements for such prediction-based platforms are deceptive and unlawful, heavily promoted by social media influencers, according to CAIT. Opinion trading was misrepresented as a game of skill and portrayed as a legitimate and regulated endeavour despite its resemblance to ‘gambling’ and ‘wagering on outcomes’, it said. The apps directly contravened the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), 2021 statute.

Does SEBI have the power to regulate such apps?

In general, opinion trading does not fall within regulatory purview of SEBI, as what is traded is not security. The regulator has therefore cautioned investors that no investor protection mechanism under securities market purview will be available for such participation. It has also clarified that since none of the platforms providing opinion trading can qualify to be recognized stock exchanges, and are neither registered nor regulated by SEBI, any trading of securities on them is illegal. “Such platforms are liable to face action for violation in that case. Recognised stock exchanges are advised to initiate appropriate action for such violations. Even in this case none of the investor protection mechanisms will be available,” the regulator said on Tuesday.

Published on May 1, 2025

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