Bangladesh Gambling Bill Targets Online and Digital Gambling

Bangladesh is preparing to replace its colonial-era gambling legislation with a new legal framework designed to address both traditional and digital gambling. The proposed Gambling Prevention Bill of 2026 would replace the Public Gambling Act of 1867 and establish rules covering gambling activities across physical and online environments.

Bill Extends to Online Gambling and Digital Tools

The proposed legislation takes a broad approach to defining gambling, covering both those who participate in gambling and those who organise or facilitate it. Activities involving money or other valuables would fall within its scope, including games such as bingo, roulette, poker and card games.

Online gambling would be treated as a distinct category under the draft. This includes online gambling software, sports betting, live betting, exchange betting, casino betting, virtual betting, fantasy betting and esports betting.

The bill also specifically refers to technologies and services associated with online gambling. These include Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, VPNs, proxy services, mirror websites, ghost SIM cards, mobile banking accounts and digital wallets.

Enforcement Targets the Wider Gambling Network

Rather than concentrating only on gambling venues or individual players, the proposed framework would extend enforcement across the wider network involved in gambling activities.

The draft specifically addresses promotional and marketing activities. Sponsorship deals, affiliate marketing, referral programmes and gambling promotions on social media are included, potentially bringing influencers and others who advertise or encourage gambling participation within the scope of enforcement.

Technology Providers Could Face Action

The proposed law would also place responsibilities on parts of the technology sector. Authorities could take action against individuals using VPNs, proxy servers, mirror sites, hosting services, domain services, cloud infrastructure or other technical systems to operate, facilitate or hide gambling activities.

The provisions would also address attempts to circumvent government restrictions, including bringing blocked gambling platforms back online through alternative domains or mirror websites.

Financial Accounts and Digital Blacklists

The draft bill would provide powers to restrict funds and accounts suspected of being connected to gambling. Courts could order the closure of bank accounts, mobile financial service accounts, payment gateways, digital wallets, cryptocurrency wallets and other financial accounts found to have facilitated gambling transactions.

Under Chapter 4, Section 39, the bill proposes establishing a national digital blacklist database covering gambling, online betting and related financial crimes, including money laundering.

The proposed database could contain a wide range of personal and technical information connected to suspected offences. This includes NID details, SIM cards, mobile financial service accounts, bank accounts, digital wallets, devices, domains, IP addresses, websites and mobile applications.

Identity Verification and AI-Based Monitoring

Chapter 4, Section 40 proposes an NID-linked verification mechanism that would connect SIM registrations with financial accounts. This would allow authorities to cross-check identities across telecommunications and financial platforms.

The framework would also permit biometric verification technologies, including facial recognition and other risk-based systems.

Under Chapter 4, Section 43, the government would be authorised to deploy advanced technologies for monitoring and combating gambling. The listed tools include AI-driven monitoring technology, DPI, risk scores, transaction monitoring systems and data analytics.

Artificial intelligence-based analysis could be used to identify suspicious transactions, websites, applications, devices, wallets and accounts associated with gambling activities.

Proposed Penalties Vary by Offence

The draft proposes significantly tougher penalties than those contained in the 19th-century legislation.

Individuals found to be directly or indirectly involved in gambling could face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to BDT 200,000, or both.

For remote gambling, the proposed punishment would be up to five years in prison or a fine of BDT one crore, or both. Participation in online betting would carry a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to BDT five crore, or both.

Those who manage, rent or permit premises to be used for gambling could receive up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to BDT 400,000.

Bookmakers could face up to seven years in prison and a fine of BDT 5 crore. Match fixing would carry a proposed penalty of seven years’ imprisonment and a BDT 1 crore fine, while spot fixing could result in up to five years in prison and a fine of BDT 50 lakh.

Promoting gambling through advertising, sponsorships, affiliate marketing or referral campaigns could result in up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of BDT 50 lakh.

Operating gambling services using VPNs, proxy servers, hosting platforms or cloud infrastructure could carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a BDT 5 crore fine.

The use of counterfeit SIM cards, fraudulently created financial accounts or biometric cheating could result in up to seven years’ imprisonment, with the maximum rising to 10 years for organised offences.

Multiple Agencies to Share Enforcement Duties

The Ministry of Home Affairs would serve as the main agency responsible for enforcement, coordination, supervision and policy oversight under the proposed framework.

The ICT and Posts and Telecommunications Ministry would oversee technical controls and regulation of online platforms, while the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) would be responsible for shutting down illegal websites, applications, domains, IP addresses and communication channels.

Financial surveillance would fall under the responsibility of Bangladesh Bank and the Financial Intelligence Unit.

Other bodies, including the Election Commission, intelligence agencies, CID and the National Cyber Security Agency, would assist with identity verification, surveillance, investigations and cyber threat analysis.

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