Is online gambling legal in Sri Lanka?

Legal overview

Sri Lanka replaced its patchwork of gambling laws with the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, No. 17 of 2025. A presidential order published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2463/03 brought the Act into operation on 1 December 2025, and it repealed older laws including the Casino Business (Regulation) Act. The Act sets up a single regulator, the Gambling Regulatory Authority, for casinos, betting, junkets, ship casinos and digital gambling. Lotteries run by the Development Lotteries Board and the National Lotteries Board fall outside it.

According to the bill published in May 2025, digital gambling covers any gambling conducted by electronic or digital means, including internet, mobile and interactive gaming, and requires a separate digital gambling licence. Carrying on gambling without a licence, or offering a type of gambling the Act does not authorise, is punishable by a fine of up to Rs. 10 million, up to two years in prison, or both, and advertising unlawful gambling is also an offence. Licensees may not let anyone under 18 gamble, and gambling software must offer spending and time limits, addiction warnings and tools to block self-excluded players. Existing land-based casino licences carried over into the new system.

The framework is not yet working for online play. The licensing, fee and online gambling regulations, together with a ministerial order defining authorised forms of gambling, were due by 30 June 2026 but were still under expert review in July 2026, and must pass the Attorney General's Department, Cabinet, gazette publication and Parliament. No digital gambling licence has been reported, so no operator can currently offer online casino games legally to people in Sri Lanka. Offshore sites serving Sri Lankans operate without a licence, and players using them have no protection from the Authority.