Indonesia for operators: illegal to offer
All forms of gambling are strictly illegal. A presidential task force coordinates extreme enforcement, including mass-scale website blocking, freezing tens of thousands of bank accounts, and criminal prosecution of operators and players.
OverviewOverview built from public sources. An in-depth review of Indonesia is available on request. Request it
Product by product
| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| Online betting · Online casino · Online poker · Lottery | Banned |
Regulator and player protection in Indonesia
Heads-up for operators
Changes coming in Indonesia
No liberalisation is contemplated. All focus is on strengthening enforcement of existing laws, including the amended ITE Law (Law No. 1 of 2024), through the multi-agency Satgas Judi Online task force.
Not yet in force: drafts, laws adopted without a start date, and sections of the law still to be commenced. An item moves to the timeline below on the day it takes effect.
Licence Types in Indonesia
| Licence | Regulator | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| No gambling licences issued | — | — | All forms of gambling are illegal under Law 7/1974. |
Gambling tax and fees in Indonesia
No legal gambling sector exists in Indonesia.
Year-1 cost: Not applicable
As all forms of gambling are a criminal activity in Indonesia, there is no legal framework for licensing or compliance. Costs are punitive, not regulatory: they consist of potential fines and imprisonment under Law 7/1974 and the ITE Law.
No legal gambling sector exists.
Which foreign licences Indonesia accepts
Indonesia recognises none of these 7 foreign licences.
BannedMalta (MGA) · United Kingdom (UKGC) · Gibraltar (GRA) · Isle of Man (GSC) · Curaçao · Kahnawake (KGC) · Anjouan (AGB)
All offshore licences are illegal. Operators are blocked, and players face criminal prosecution.
Bonus rules: welcome bonuses banned
Due to the complete prohibition of gambling in Indonesia, there is no regulatory framework for bonuses or promotions. Any advertising or inducement related to gambling is considered an illegal activity and is subject to severe criminal penalties under the ITE Law and the Criminal Code.
- Welcome bonus
- Banned
- VIP schemes
- Banned
- Loyalty schemes
- Banned
- Cashback
- Banned
- All verticals are banned
All inducements to gamble, including any form of bonus or promotion, are prohibited as components of an illegal gambling operation.
- Channels off-limits
- Websites
- Social media platforms
- All digital and physical advertising
- Messages ads may not give
- Free Bet
- Welcome Bonus
- Penalties
Promoting online gambling can result in a fine of up to IDR 1 billion. Operators of gambling sites face fines of up to IDR 10 billion.
There is no licensing regime. The primary risk is criminal prosecution, with potential sentences of up to six years in prison for promoting gambling and up to ten years for operating a gambling site.
No documented incidents of fines specifically for bonus or advertising violations could be found, as enforcement targets the entire illegal operation rather than specific promotional breaches.
| Date | Operator | Violation | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | Unnamed international syndicate | Operating at least 75 illegal betting websites from an office building in Jakarta. | Fines of up to IDR 2 billion and arrest of 321 foreign nationals. | World Casino Directory |
| January 2025 | Various unnamed operators | Posting 43,063 gambling-related digital items, including social media accounts and websites. | Content and site blocking | Gambling Insider |
| Ongoing (2024-2026) | Various unnamed operators | Using bank accounts for transactions related to online gambling. | Blocking of over 33,252 bank accounts | iGaming Business |
| Ongoing (2022-2026) | Various unnamed operators | Operating illegal online gambling websites and content. | Blocking of over 3.2 million sites and 810,000 pieces of content in 2023 alone. | Jakarta Globe |
How Indonesia enforces against unlicensed operators
Indonesia's enforcement intensity is at the highest possible level. A dedicated presidential task force coordinates continuous, multi-agency actions that go far beyond simple ISP blocking. Authorities are waging aggressive financial warfare. They are freezing tens of thousands of bank accounts and actively pursuing criminal prosecutions against operators, staff, promoters, and players.
- May 2026: Police arrested 321 foreign nationals in Jakarta involved in a single online gambling syndicate.
- April 2026: The Financial Services Authority (OJK) confirmed it has ordered the blocking of over 33,252 bank accounts linked to gambling.
- 2025 Calendar Year: The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) blocked over 2.08 million pieces of online gambling content.
Enforcement cases in Indonesia: 4 recent
Material regulator actions, court rulings, and high-profile fines from 2016–2026 against operators serving Indonesia. Each entry includes the technical failure and a one-line read-across for other operators in the market.
- May 2026
Transnational Offshore Operators
Grey-MarketCriminal proceedingsPolice arrested 321 foreign nationals in Jakarta for running an illegal online gambling operation targeting international players.
Read-across: This signals a heightened risk of criminal prosecution for operational staff located within Indonesia, regardless of the target player geography.
- April 2026
Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK)
Grey-MarketPayment blockingThe OJK ordered the blocking of thousands of consumer bank accounts, bringing the total frozen since 2024 to over 33,252.
Read-across: Aggressive and large-scale payment blocking severely disrupts player deposit and withdrawal channels. This affects operator revenue and payment processing relationships.
- May 2025
Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kominfo)
Grey-MarketISP/IP blockingAuthorities announced the blocking of over 1.3 million pieces of online gambling content between October 2024 and May 2025.
Read-across: Sustained, high-volume ISP blocking forces constant domain and IP rotation. This raises operational costs and degrades the user experience for players.
- January 2024
Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo)
Grey-MarketContent takedown and financial blockingThe ministry removed 810,785 pieces of gambling content in 2023 and blocked 4,164 bank accounts and 540 e-wallets.
Read-across: This shows a multi-faceted enforcement approach that targets both site access and payment channels simultaneously to disrupt grey-market operations.
Black-market turnover: 0.65B USD
Estimated illegal-market turnover in Indonesia is approximately 650 million USD annually. The most popular form of gambling is (Illegal: Online slots, sports betting). Online gambling represents 0% of total GGR. A culturally distinctive product in this market is (Illegal: Online slots 'slot gacor', lottery 'togel').
- Land-based0B USD0.0%
- Sports betting0.2925B USD45.0%
- Casino0.3575B USD55.0%
- Lottery0B USD0.0%
Source: iGaming Expert Asian Market Overviews. Splits: online-casino 55.0%, sports 45.0%, land-based 0.0%, lottery 0.0%.
GGR figure7
Licensed operators: none
As of 2 Jun 2026, no operator holds an active online licence in Indonesia.
Traps operators hit in Indonesia
Specific operational risks that have caught new entrants in this market. Each item is country-specific. Generic gambling-ops issues (KYC, RG tools) are not included unless they have a local twist.
Criminal Prosecution of In-Country Staff
Any individual involved in facilitating online gambling from within Indonesian territory faces severe criminal penalties, including up to 10 years in prison under the amended ITE Law. Large-scale arrests of foreign nationals in May 2026 confirm this is an active and extreme risk.
Systemic Payment and ISP Blocking
Operators face a relentless campaign of disruption. Komdigi's high-volume ISP blocking (over 2 million items in 2025) requires constant domain rotation, while the OJK and PPATK's mass freezing of bank and e-wallet accounts (over 33,000 by April 2026) severs payment channels.
Targeting of Promoters and Affiliates
The ITE Law criminalizes the distribution and transmission of gambling content. Authorities actively use this to prosecute social media influencers, brand ambassadors, and affiliates who promote illegal gambling sites. This cuts off key local marketing channels and creates legal risk for partners.
Sources9
Timeline: rules in force
- May 2026
Major Transnational Syndicate Disrupted
Police arrest 321 foreign nationals in Jakarta, which signals a focus on dismantling the operational infrastructure of transnational syndicates that have relocated to Indonesia.
Source: 4
- April 2026
Financial Blocking Milestone Reached
The Financial Services Authority (OJK) confirms the total number of frozen bank accounts linked to gambling has surpassed 33,000, which indicates sustained, high-intensity financial enforcement.
Source: 5
- January 2025
Amended ITE Law (No. 1/2024) Takes Force
A new amendment to the Electronic Information and Transactions Law comes into force, introducing harsher penalties specifically for online gambling, including up to 10 years imprisonment for operators.
Source: 8
- June 2024
Satgas Judi Online Task Force Established
Presidential Decree No. 21 of 2024 creates the multi-agency Online Gambling Eradication Task Force and formalises a coordinated national eradication strategy.
Source: 10
- 1974
Law No. 7/1974 on the Control of Gambling Enacted
This law makes all forms of gambling a crime in Indonesia.
Source: 11
Operator myths vs reality in Indonesia
Common assumptions about gambling licensing that turn out to be wrong in practice.
- MythAn MGA or Curaçao license provides legal cover to accept players from Indonesia.Reality
False. Indonesian law makes no distinction between licensed and unlicensed offshore operators; all are illegal. Holding a foreign license offers zero legal protection and will not prevent aggressive ISP blocking, payment interdiction, or criminal prosecution of any local assets or personnel.
Sources11
- MythEnforcement is just basic website blocking and is easy to circumvent.Reality
False. This underestimates the state's strategy. Enforcement is a multi-pronged assault that combines high-volume ISP blocking with systemic financial warfare (freezing payment channels and player accounts) and active police investigations that lead to arrests and lengthy prison sentences.
- MythThe operational risk is low if we don't have any staff based in Indonesia.Reality
Partially false. While direct staff risk is lower, the business risk remains extreme. The government actively targets local promoters and affiliates, which cripples marketing channels. The aggressive blocking of payment channels directly affects revenue and makes the market commercially unviable.
Sources9
Markets that work like Indonesia
Compared on what our records hold for each country: whether online casino, betting, poker and lottery are licensed, state-run or banned, the licensing model, what the operator tax is levied on and its band, how most advertising channels are treated, and how foreign licences are treated. A point we hold for only one of the two countries counts for nothing.
- BruneiAI overviewTimor-LesteAI overviewPalauAI overviewBangladeshAI overviewMaldivesAI overview
Online casino, betting, poker and lottery banned; most ad channels banned; foreign licences mostly banned.
Methodology & sources
This page is a Quick AI overview: a summary of public information, not yet checked against the law or the regulator. Treat it as a starting point. It has not yet been through our Deep AI Scan.
How we researchAsk us to run the Deep AI Scan for Indonesia