The country’s government confirmed that the Gambling Regulatory Authority remit to oversee all gaming operations will begin on 1 December.
The date will mark the culmination of an extensive process after Sri Lanka’s Cabinet approved a draft bill in February 2025 before it was officially presented to parliament in June – but how will it actually evolve the country’s gambling ecosystem – remains to be seen.
Time for change
The Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill moves to unify Sri Lanka’s currently fragmented gaming landscape and repeal the Gambling Ordinance, Casino Ordinance and Horse Racing Betting Ordinance.
Supporters of the change point to the outdated nature of the current legislation. The Gambling Ordinance was drafted in 1887 while the laws relating to casinos and horse racing betting were implemented in 1988.
By moving to close loopholes and clarify overlapping regulation, the Sri Lankan Government hopes to “promote tourism, employment and economic development through the regulated operation of gambling activities”, alongside improving tax collection and fighting against the undercurrent of Sri Lanka’s black market while encouraging iGaming expansion.
The new regulator will function “as the sole independent regulator with a broad and overarching scope on operations in the gambling industry”, including online gaming and offshore gambling activities on ships in the port city of Colombo.
This includes issuing and renewing gaming licences, enforcing the guidelines associated with the licence and collecting tax revene.
As of yet, no Director-General or Chairperson has been named for the regulator. The board will be made up of the Secreatry of the Ministry of Finance, Commissioner General of Indland Revenue, Head of the Financial Intelligence United and the Inspector General of the Police.
Three extra members of the board with knowledge of gambling regulation will be appointed by the Finance Minsiter, one of which will then be appointed as Chair. The board will also select the regulator’s Director-General.
Anyone found offering, promoting or taking part in unlicensed gambling may be fined, sentenced to up to two years in prison, or both.
A new Macau?
Sri Lanka is already home to seven casinos, and one of the country’s latest additions has high hopes to turn the nation into a destination for gaming for its neighbours.
Upon the opening of the $1.2bn City of Dreams Sri Lanka project, Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s Chair, Lawrence Ho, set out his aspiration that “Sri Lanka can be to India what Macau is to China”.
“Macau is by far the biggest gaming market in the world. Colombo is the closest destination to India, and an integrated resort like this gives the city a lot of potential,” he told local media.
Macau’s gross gaming revenue topped $28.35bn, so even emulating this on a much smaller scale would represent a sharp financial boost for a country that is still looking to bounce back from an economic crisis that triggered a bailout from the International Monetary Fund in 2023.
Although Ho cited neighbouring India as a key target market, Sri Lanka may also hope to garner visitors from Thailand, where efforts to implement casino regulation hit a legislative brick wall due to significant political turmoil.
