Gambling in Sri Lanka Getting Closer to Becoming Legal
Sri Lanka’s government approves a gambling regulation draft, meaning legal gambling could be coming soon.
Key Facts:
- The Sri Lankan Cabinet approved the publication of a gambling regulation document
- The Gambling Sports Regularisation Act was published in the Government Gazette
- The new bill will be submitted to Parliament where it will be debated further
On April 21st 2025, Sri Lanka came a step closer to making gambling legal. This was thanks to the Cabinet approving the publication of the first draft of the Gambling Sports Regularisation Act. The bill was able to be published after getting clearance from the Attorney General.
It will soon be submitted to Parliament where it will be debated by the country’s leading politicians from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the United National Party and other smaller parties. If all goes according to plan, the bill will eventually be approved.
What the Bill Proposes
Should the bill be approved, a completely independent regulator, the Gambling Regulation Authority, will be formally established. This organisation will be responsible for handing out licences to operators, ensuring that operators continue meeting standards and tracking gambling activity in the country.
It will have the power to not only issue licences but also to revoke them if an operator doesn’t fail to meet the terms of the licensing agreement. It will also oversee KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) checks.
Responsible gambling will also be something that the Gambling Regulation Authority will work on. The organisation will actively promote safe, sensible gambling practices and the availability of tools such as deposit/wager limits and self-exclusion. These should help prevent gambling problems from rising as more people gamble.
The Gambling Regulation Authority will be in charge of monitoring a range of gambling types in Sri Lanka. These include land-based casino venues along with offshore gaming vessels, resorts with gambling facilities within the special economic zone of Colombo Port City and websites hosted in other countries.
Other powers that the Gambling Regulation Authority will have include being able to carry out inspections of land-based premises, impose sanctions on operators and listen to appeals against its regulatory decisions. In short, the organisation will be the go-to authority for gambling in Sri Lanka.
Reasons for the New Bill
In February 2025, the Cabinet decided to come up with the draft mainly due to the rise in gambling. The aim was to strengthen the regulation of an industry that hasn’t been overseen by official government authorities much, and to introduce new types of regulation.
Both land-based gambling venues and gambling websites have become increasingly popular in recent years. The government wants to ensure that people who choose to gamble, whether it’s in the real world or over the internet, are able to do so safely.
One of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s policy agendas is to develop a unified legal framework for gambling activity. The creation of the new bill is a step towards achieving that goal. If it comes into effect, it should replace or update the country’s older laws related to gambling.
The bill should also confirm what requirements operators have to meet if they want to offer real-money gambling services to people in Sri Lanka. This applies both to companies based in Sri Lanka and those based elsewhere.
