New Gambling Regulator to rein in Casino sector
Sri Lanka will enforce its most sweeping regulatory shift in decades as the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) Act No. 17 of 2025 takes effect on December 1, bringing the whole industry under one independent regulator.
The activation seals a decisive state intervention in a sector that for long had faced criticism for weak oversight, opaque earnings, and chronic tax leakage, which successive governments had failed to contain despite repeated warnings by fiscal authorities. By consolidating all casino, betting, and online gaming operations under one regulator, the aim of the government is to enforce compliance standards evaded for years, along with securing a revenue stream vital for the country’s fragile economic recovery.
The new GRA follows a gazette issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, formally repealing three outdated laws that had governed the sector for decades.
In their place, the authority will regulate casinos, betting centres, offshore gaming, ship-based gambling, online operators, and future Port City gaming ventures under a single, modern regulatory framework.
A senior Finance Ministry official described the overhaul as “structural surgery that was delayed for more than 20 years,” adding that the fragmented system had enabled long-term revenue losses. “The state cannot afford to let billions slip away through loopholes and informal practices,” the official said. “The GRA is being set up with enforcement power, not cosmetic authority.”
The bill unanimously passed in Parliament, reflects bipartite agreement of the sector’s regulatory vacuum. The new Authority will impose anti-money-laundering requirements, restrictions on irresponsible promotions, and binding social-responsibility codes, both for physical and digital gaming.
A senior Public Finance Committee member noted: “For the first time, every rupee that moves inside this sector will have a regulatory footprint.”Industry analysts argue that Sri Lanka’s aspiration to become “India’s Macau” – with the advent of City of Dreams’ Melco casino – depends almost entirely on regulatory credibility.
However, the road to reform will not be easy. Major Colombo casinos Bally’s, Bellagio, Casino Marina, Ritz Club, Stardust, and now City of Dreams have long operated under a patchwork of permits and discretionary taxes that enabled significant under-reporting.
Online gambling, now estimated by officials to account for over half of local betting activity, has operated in a near-vacuum of oversight.
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