Online gambling in Sri Lanka: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Sri Lanka?

Land-based casinos in Colombo and licensed bookmakers operate under long-standing levy laws, and the state runs the lotteries. The Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, passed on 19 August 2025 and in force from 1 December 2025, repealed the Casino Business (Regulation) Act 2010 and the colonial gaming and horse-racing ordinances, established the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) and made carrying on any gambling without a licence an offense punishable by a fine of up to LKR 10 million or two years' imprisonment. Section 18 requires a separate digital gambling licence for online activity, but the ministerial order and regulations defining permitted gambling types, fees and online rules had not been gazetted by September 2026, so no online licence can yet be issued. The Betting and Gaming Levy rose to 18% of gross collections on 1 January 2026.

Partially regulated: Some verticals are licensed (usually betting); others are prohibited or unaddressed.

Who regulates gambling in Sri Lanka?

• Gambling Regulatory Authority of Sri Lanka (GRA) — Single regulator for casinos, betting, gaming on ships and in Port City Colombo, and digital gambling under Act No. 17 of 2025; licensing, social responsibility codes and enforcement once regulations are in force
• Inland Revenue Department (IRD) — Registers bookmakers and gaming businesses and collects the Betting and Gaming Levy, casino annual levy and casino entrance levy
• Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development — Issued casino licences under the 2010 Act, including the 20-year licence for City of Dreams Sri Lanka, and oversees the GRA

Sri Lanka gambling licence: how it works

The 2025 Act is the framework for a unified licensing system covering casinos, betting shops, gaming on licensed ships, Port City Colombo and digital gambling, with licences transferring from the 2010 casino law. Section 19 leaves it to the Minister to specify by gazetted order which types of gambling, including digital gambling, are authorized, and Section 18 requires a digital gambling licence for any online activity. The first package of regulations, covering licensing and fees, online gambling and anti-money-laundering rules, missed the 30 June 2026 target given to Parliament's Committee on Public Finance and was with an expert review committee in mid-2026, with November 2026 the informal new estimate. Until those instruments are gazetted no digital gambling licence can be applied for. Existing casino licences, including City of Dreams Sri Lanka's 20-year licence from 1 April 2024, continue under the new Act.

What an applicant needs

• Casino: a licence issued by the Minister under the 2010 Act (now deemed issued under the 2025 Act), IRD registration and payment of the LKR 500 million annual levy
• Bookmaker: IRD registration and the fixed annual levy per premises, LKR 5 million for internet-based betting through agents or with live telecast
• Digital gambling licence: created by Section 18 of the 2025 Act; conditions, fees and eligible entities to be set by regulation
• Changes of 50% or more of a licensee's shares or voting rights require GRA approval
• Social responsibility duties in the Act: risk warnings, self-exclusion mechanisms, data protection under the Personal Data Protection Act 2022 and under-18 exclusion

Gambling taxes in Sri Lanka

• Operators: Betting and Gaming Levy of 18% of gross collections from 1 January 2026 (15% before), payable monthly by casinos and bookmakers with collections above LKR 1 million a month, in lieu of VAT on those receipts; plus the fixed annual levies (LKR 500 million for a casino) and corporate income tax at the 40% rate that applies to betting and gaming.
• Players: No tax on winnings as verified. Sri Lankan citizens pay a casino entrance levy of US$100 per entry, doubled from US$50 on 1 January 2026.
• Also: The Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 25 of 2025 was certified on 17 December 2025. Levy registration with the IRD is mandatory, and failure carries fines of up to LKR 10 million.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising any gambling carried on in contravention of the Act is an offense with a fine of up to LKR 100,000 or two years' imprisonment (Section 44), and Section 54 separately penalizes advertisements that are false or misleading about risks or chances of winning. Detailed advertising codes await GRA regulations.

Responsible gaming

The Act requires licensees to display prominent addiction warnings and support links, offer tools for spending, time and loss limits, run self-exclusion programs and block registered self-excluded persons; gambling with or on behalf of anyone under 18 is an offense.

Identity and age verification

Casinos verify identity at entry to collect the entrance levy and apply AML rules under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act; online identity and age verification standards will be set in the GRA's digital gambling regulations.

Payments

Casinos and bookmakers operate in cash and local bank rails. No payment rules for online gambling exist yet because no digital licences have been issued; the government has begun blocking unauthorized gambling websites.

Notable restrictions

• Carrying on any gambling without a GRA licence: fine up to LKR 10 million or two years' imprisonment
• No digital gambling licence can be issued until the Section 19 order and regulations are gazetted
• Citizens pay a US$100 casino entrance levy; under-18s may not gamble
• Casinos and betting shops must register with the IRD and pay the levy monthly
• Gambling on ships is allowed only under licence and within territorial waters

Sri Lanka iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate for online play. Licensed casino and bookmaker levies are reported by the IRD; the US$1 billion City of Dreams Sri Lanka resort, whose casino opened in August 2025, is the largest single investment in the sector.

Cricket betting and card games are culturally established; Parliament's Committee on Public Finance has heard that unlicensed online operators serve Sri Lankan customers without paying levies.

Mobile connectivity is widespread and most unlicensed online play reported to Parliament is app-based; no official online participation data exists.

Land-based: five long-established Colombo casinos owned by two local groups plus Melco's City of Dreams Sri Lanka (opened 2025), and a network of licensed bookmaker shops. Online: no licensed operators.

Timeline: how Sri Lanka got here

1. 1988Betting and Gaming Levy Act, No. 40 of 1988 introduces fixed annual levies on bookmakers and gaming
2. 2010Casino Business (Regulation) Act, No. 17 of 2010 requires ministerial licences for casinos
3. 2023-04Casino annual levy raised to LKR 500 million; gross collection levy to 15%
4. 2024-0420-year casino licence granted to Melco's Bluehaven Services for City of Dreams Sri Lanka
5. 2025-08Parliament passes the Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill; City of Dreams Sri Lanka casino opens
6. 2025-12GRA Act No. 17 of 2025 in force; Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act certified
7. 2026-01Levy rises to 18% of gross collections; casino entrance levy doubles to US$100
8. 2026-06Deadline for the first GRA regulations missed; informal target moves to November 2026

Outlook

The market opens for online operators only when the Minister gazettes the Section 19 order and the GRA publishes licensing, fee, online and AML regulations, which officials told Parliament could come in late 2026 with UK and EU technical assistance. Until then the Authority cannot license or effectively police online gambling, and enforcement relies on blocking and the levy law. Fee levels for digital licences, whether foreign companies may hold them and whether Port City Colombo gets a separate regime are the open questions.

Launching in Sri Lanka with GameBridge

Model decided with counsel. No online licence exists yet and unlicensed gambling is an offense, so Sri Lanka is excluded by geo-controls on real-money brands by default; GameBridge will scope a turnkey launch with an operator's counsel once the GRA opens digital gambling applications.

Real-money brands on GameBridge ship with Sri Lanka on the country deny list, enforced by GeoIP with GPS re-check and a restricted-region page, and this page lets compliance teams confirm that position. When the GRA's digital gambling regulations are gazetted, a licensed brand would be configured in English, Sinhala and Tamil with an LKR wallet, local bank and mobile-wallet rails on request, 18-plus identity checks, the loss, spend and time limits and self-exclusion the Act already requires, and AML reporting. GameBridge Studios and Originals releases carry certification packages for whichever testing standard the GRA adopts. GameBridge does not promise that a licence will be granted or when.

• Sri Lanka on the default deny list until GRA licences exist, with GPS re-check
• Configuration plan for LKR wallet and local rails on request
• Responsible-gaming limits and self-exclusion mapped to the 2025 Act
• 18-plus identity verification and AML reporting workflows
• Certification package for every GameBridge Studios and Originals version

Cricket-led sportsbook content and baccarat, rummy and slots would lead a future licensed Sri Lankan lobby; until licensing opens, no content is exposed to Sri Lankan users.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, No. 17 of 2025 — Parliament of Sri Lanka, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling Regulatory Authority Act to take effect on Dec 1 (Gazette Extraordinary 2463/03) — Newswire, accessed 2026-09-11
• Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 25 of 2025 — Parliament of Sri Lanka (via LankaLaw), accessed 2026-09-11
• Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2023 (annual levy schedule) — Parliament of Sri Lanka (via PublicFinance.lk), accessed 2026-09-11
• Billions lost, deadlines missed: inside Sri Lanka's stalled bet on regulating online gambling — Lanka Leader, accessed 2026-09-11
• Melco says 20-year gaming licence in Sri Lanka, to pay US$16.8mln fee — GGRAsia, accessed 2026-09-11
• Sri Lanka changes in gambling tax regime an aggressive overhaul: analyst — Asia Gaming Brief, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.