The Singapore Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Singapore Gambling Regulatory Authority Act 2022 will come into force on August 1. These two laws overhaul the gambling industry in Singapore by creating a single gambling regulatory agency (GRA), legalising social gambling and introducing new criminal offences to combat proxy gambling and underage gambling, among many other changes. Given the broad scope of the new laws, companies outside the gaming industry may find that some of their operations may now be subject to GRA regulation. According to the GCA, all gambling activities are regulated under one of three regimes: Given the broad definition of gaming presented above, class licensing rules are intended to regulate companies that offer promotions or services with gaming elements without first having to acquire a gaming license. Individual operators do not have to apply for a class licence, but comply with all the attached conditions and regulations. Class license terms may include, but are not limited to, the number of bets or tickets offered, price restrictions, how often a business may offer the gaming service, required registrations, and advertising rules. [6] Failure to comply with these conditions may result in the loss of an operator`s ability to operate under the Class Licence. This Regulation regulates gambling services provided at non-gambling events. This includes all gaming services provided at social events (weddings, birthday parties, social dinners and dances, etc.), professional events, artistic performances, religious ceremonies or rites or celebrations, and sporting events.

The Gaming Regulatory Unit (GRU) controlled fruit vending machines and remote gaming activities under the MHA. The GC Bill will cover all illegal gambling offences and the regulation of gambling other than casinos. The existing laws on this subject, namely the BA, CGH, PLA and RGA, will be repealed accordingly. Overall, considering the recent and ever-changing emerging trends in gaming-related business and the growing range of products in the market, GCA should be seen as a timely and welcome development. The MHA regulates legal gambling operators in Singapore through the following means: The Gambling Control Act (GCA) updated the definitions of some key terms, as the old definitions were deemed too specific and did not take into account emerging gambling-related products in our modern society. Currently, there is no minimum age that applies to all gambling activities, and the minimum age to play legally varies depending on the location of the gambling activity. For example, Singapore Pools only allows people aged 18 and over to purchase 4D and TOTO tickets or place bets on horse racing. According to the CCA, you must be at least 21 years old to play in casinos. At the same time, current gambling laws are being reviewed and amended with the aim of regulating activities that are not traditionally considered gambling, such as physical mystery boxes and online loot boxes. [15] [17] [18] [19] The changes came after the laws were passed by Parliament in March, following a debate in which MPs raised concerns about new forms of gambling caused by digital technologies. SINGAPORE – Social play in the form of mahjong and poker with family and friends at home will be available from Monday (1. August) legalized.

The new rules and a new regulator to oversee the gambling landscape will come into effect on Monday, the Home Office (MHA) announced on Sunday (July 31st). It will work with the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the National Problem Gambling Council to reduce the social harms of gambling, while the police will continue to enforce the law. In addition, under the GCA, gambling also includes lotteries, which are defined as the distribution of prizes that depend on an element of chance at each stage of the agreement, although the agreement may also include an element of jurisdiction. Under the new law, sweepstakes, sweepstakes and sweepstakes are now considered types of games, even though participants do not have to pay to participate. [2] Rewarding customers who purchase goods and services by participating in a prize draw would also be considered a type of lottery. [3] In 2017, during an investigation conducted by Tiong Bahru Football Club, which operated a slot machine, public attention focused on gambling in registered companies that have slot machines. [14] Access to these slot machines is considered a backdoor for gambling addicts, which is prohibited by the NCPG, as their access to such businesses is not prohibited. [14] The main changes introduced by the new laws are: MHA also works with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to protect young people and other vulnerable people from harm or exploitation caused by gambling through the consistent implementation of social protection measures.

Currently, the threshold to prove a criminal offence related to advertising and promoting gambling activities is lower than that of online gambling under the RGA compared to illegal physical gambling under the BA and CGHA. The GoC Bill will introduce consistent treatment of these advertising and promotion offences across all gaming modalities. It will facilitate the disclosure of offences related to the advertising and promotion of illegal physical games of chance by removing the need to link them to participation in real gambling, as is the case for advertising for illegal online gambling. In order to keep pace with these trends, the GCA has introduced new criminal offences that affect not only minors but also excluded persons. This was done to address the prevalence and accessibility of gaming products and related advertisements. The bill introduced by the GRA Act and the GC Act is far-reaching and will have a significant impact on all gambling operators. Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli said in a statement that his ministry “strongly supports the legislative improvements made by the MHA, which will further minimize the harm caused by gambling to vulnerable groups such as minors.” Operators of land-based casinos and operators of online gaming with gaming elements should carefully monitor the adoption of the GRA Act and the GC Act and consider the impact on their operations and possibly make adjustments to ensure that their operations comply with the conditions and safeguards imposed. Under the current CCA, a person may be prohibited from entering or staying on the casino premises. The GoC Bill expands harm reduction measures that can be mandated by the National Problem Gambling Council (NCPG) to cover general remote gambling and gaming in slot rooms outside the casino. It will be a criminal offence for these excluded individuals from gambling and entering gaming areas on all platforms and locations where NCPG exclusions apply, such as Singapore Pools` fruit vending rooms and online gambling. Nevertheless, the violation of these exclusion orders by persons who are subject to self-exclusion is not a criminal offence under the proposed CM Act. This is to prevent individuals from requesting self-exclusion to discourage them from entering casinos.

However, online social gaming is prohibited, with the MHA citing practical difficulties in determining whether individuals are familiar enough to qualify the activity as social gambling. Social play between family and friends, although not prohibited by current legislation, is not clearly defined. Social gambling is therefore explicitly defined in the GC Bill under an exemption so that it can be legally practiced in households between family and friends. However, the exception does not apply to online social gambling because it is difficult to determine whether individuals who engage in online gambling activities know each other meaningfully and appropriately in the online context to represent social gambling. Gambling is strictly regulated by strict laws to maintain law and order and minimize potential harm to society. Gambling activities are prohibited unless exempted or authorized.