Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved the gazetting of a draft bill to set up a body called the Gambling Regularisation Authority. It will oversee forms of online gambling and ship-based gambling, as well as what are termed “offshore casinos” in an area called Colombo Port City.
The decision on the gambling authority followed a Monday cabinet meeting. The bill – referred to as the ‘Gambling Sports Regularisation Act’ – must still be approved by the country’s parliament, according to a statement published by the Department of Government Information.
The authority will be responsible for “monitoring activities related to the gambling sports industry in Sri Lanka including offshore gambling sports activities in ships and the Colombo Port City as well as online gambling sports,” said the official statement on Monday cabinet business.
Sri Lankan news outlet, Economynext, reported on Tuesday – citing cabinet spokesman, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa – that the new authority would also regulate onshore casinos.
The cabinet had approved at its February 24 meeting the creation of the draft law. The process was then cleared by the country’s attorney general, and the bill proposed by Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Colombo Port City is a land reclamation zone on the western edge of the Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. The port zone’s main developer was China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd, which made a US$1.4-billion investment in it, as per Colombo Port City’s website.
According to local media, Sri Lanka’s existing casinos are subject to gazetted regulations covering matters including licensing and entrance fees, but not by a dedicated act of parliament.
Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd is to manage a land-based casino at City of Dreams Sri Lanka, a US$1-billion real estate development to the southeast of Colombo Port City, which was created by John Keells Holdings Plc.
Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development Ltd, the parent of Melco Resorts, said in a March filing, that City of Dreams Sri Lanka “is expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2025,” via a 20-year licence that took effect from April 1 last year.
Earlier this year, Sri Lanka’s government announced a string of measures as part of its 2025 budget plan, including a proposal to double the entrance fee at the country’s casinos to US$100 per person, up from US$50. It also announced a plan to raise the turnover tax on gaming establishments from 15 percent to 18 percent.
