Singapore gambling licence: no online licence

GRA is the single regulator. It administers the Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Casino Control Act 2006, issues the licences and approvals, and sets advertising rules for licensees by licence conditions and standards. The Minister decides appeals.

• Licences: GRA grants a licence to provide a gambling service under s. 54 of the Gambling Control Act, approves gambling venues (s. 64), games (s. 70) and gaming machines (s. 74), and under the Casino Control Act issues casino licences (s. 49).
• Class licences: lower-risk services (lucky draws, fundraiser lotteries, trade promotions, remote games of chance such as loot boxes) need no licence. They run under a class licence the Minister sets by order, and the operator only has to meet the order's conditions.
• Appeals: to the Minister, under the Gambling Control Act only against a decision affirmed or substituted on reconsideration by GRA (s. 99), or an access or payment blocking order confirmed or varied under s. 119.
• Blocking: the Act names GRA, which may direct the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to give internet service providers access blocking orders, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to give financial institutions payment blocking orders. GRA's own page states that since 1 January 2025 the Singapore Police Force has taken over blocking access to unlawful remote gambling services, the advertising of such services and payment transactions. The Ministry of Home Affairs says the Police issue directions under the Online Criminal Harms Act 2023. No instrument transferring the functions appears in the sources, so which instrument is used is a question for GRA or the Ministry.
• Pending changes: as of 9 November 2026 the only item on GRA's announcements page is a consultation (30 July 2026, closed 13 August 2026) on amending the Fundraisers class licence order. No Bill amending the Gambling Control Act, the Casino Control Act or the GRA Act appears there.

Laws that apply

• Gambling Control Act 2022 (No. 15 of 2022), the principal Act, which repealed the Betting Act 1960, the Common Gaming Houses Act 1961, the Remote Gambling Act 2014 and the Private Lotteries Act 2011
• Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Act 2022 (No. 14 of 2022), which sets up the regulator
• Casino Control Act 2006, governing the two integrated-resort casinos (land-based)
• Gambling Duties Act 2022 (No. 1 of 2022), the tax Act the Gambling Control Act refers to
• Gambling Control (General) Regulations 2022 (S 682/2022) · Gambling Control (Remote Games of Chance - Class Licence) Order 2022 (S 681/2022) · Casino Control (Casino Licence and Fees) Regulations 2009 (S 429/2009)

The table lists each product, its status and the licence behind it as of 9 November 2026. Only Singapore Pools holds a remote gambling licence, and its approved rules cover betting and lotteries.

• Licences in use as of 9 November 2026: the betting, gaming and lottery licence held by Singapore Pools, gaming machine room and community-organisation licences (land-based), and the casino licences (land-based). GRA's class licences page also lists mystery boxes, with conditions to follow.
• Casino licences are capped: until 31 December 2030 GRA must ensure that there are not more than 2 casino licences in force, and a licence applies to one casino only (s. 41).
• No separate licence per product is fixed by the Act. GRA may grant licences by kind of gambling, and each game or set of rules must in addition be approved by GRA (ss. 69-70).

The Act sets no nationality, seat or minimum capital test, but the practical position is that no new remote licence will be issued.

• Entity: a licence may only go to an entity (a body corporate, unincorporated association, partnership or other non-individual), never to an individual (s. 54(5)). The application must give an address in Singapore, or the name and address of a person in Singapore, to accept service of notices (s. 53(2)(c)).
• No branch rule: the Act does not say whether a branch of a foreign company may hold a licence; the test is that the holder is an entity with a Singapore service address.
• No local office, local director or Singapore bank account is required. Place-based gambling needs an approved gambling venue; a place used exclusively to house a computer server is not a gambling venue.
• Suitability: GRA assesses the applicant, every responsible executive and every category 1 key officer as suitable persons (s. 54(2)(d)) on convictions, participation in criminal activity, prior regulatory action, insolvency and compliance history (s. 55).
• Grounds GRA weighs under s. 54(2): whether the applicant already holds another licence, the demand for the service, financial capacity, suitability, and whether the grant is contrary to the public interest or national security. GRA is not confined to those matters.
• No timeline and no window: the Act sets no deadline for a new application. GRA's service standards state no intention of issuing new licences for casino gambling or for betting operations, lotteries and games of chance, and direct enquiries to [email protected].
• Refusal: a refusal is an appealable decision. The applicant may ask GRA to reconsider within the time in the decision, not later than the 14th day after it is given, then appeal in writing to the Minister within 28 days.

There is no application route for a new online operator, so these figures describe the one existing betting licence and are not an estimate for a new entrant. Fees are fixed amounts, not a share of revenue.

• Guarantee: none as a condition of grant. GRA may direct a licensee to furnish a performance bond, guarantee or other security (s. 88(2)(f)); the Act sets no amount.
• Audit: a licence condition may require the licensee to undergo, at its own cost, an audit GRA requires (s. 57(2)(l)).
• Responsible gambling: the regulations may provide that the licence fee includes an amount for the costs of the National Council on Problem Gambling.
• No fee is charged per domain, brand or product for the online licence. A class licensee neither applies nor pays.
• Over the five-year term that began on 25 October 2025 the licence fee is 5 x S$4,930,000 = S$24,650,000 (arithmetic on the table); the Regulations do not say whether the whole term's fee is due on grant or each year.

Two gambling-specific charges apply to licensed operators: gambling duty on the authorised betting operator and lottery promoter, which as of 9 November 2026 is Singapore Pools only, and casino tax (land-based). The ordinary 17% corporate income tax and 9% GST also apply.

• Reporting: the operator files a statement of bets received and winnings paid and pays the duty by the 15th day after the end of the month. Casino tax is payable monthly.
• Late payment: a 5% penalty, then a further 5% if still unpaid a month later and for each complete month after that, up to 50% of the unpaid amount.
• Players: winnings from betting, lotteries, fruit machines and casinos in Singapore are windfalls, not income, and need not be declared.
• No tax is levied on advertising or sponsorship.
• Land-based: citizens and permanent residents pay a casino entry levy of S$150 for every 24 hours or S$3,000 for an annual membership, paid to the Singapore Totalisator Board; it is a levy, not casino tax.

No platform certification or technical standard is published for online gambling. The published technical standards cover the land-based casinos only.

• Server and domain: no rule requires a server, mirror or .sg domain in Singapore, and cloud hosting is neither permitted on conditions nor prohibited. The Act reaches a remote service by where the customers are (a Singapore-customer link).
• Geolocation: not required of the operator; the State blocks. The licensee must take reasonably practicable steps to stop underaged and excluded individuals gambling remotely (s. 82(2)).
• Game approval: after licensing, GRA must approve the rules of any betting, game of chance or lottery the licensee conducts (s. 69). No certification is required before applying.
• Laboratories (land-based): GRA approves test service providers and requires ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation; 13 locations were listed as of 9 November 2026.
• Minimum age: 21 for remote gambling (s. 13(1) item 5); 18 for place-based lottery play and betting without a live broadcast. Casinos treat anyone below 21 as a minor.
• Self-exclusion: one national list kept by the National Council on Problem Gambling covers casinos, gaming machine rooms and all general remote gambling; licensees receive it free of charge and must stop excluded persons gambling. A voluntary exclusion has a 12-month minimum on the licensed operator's statement.
• Limits: the statutes set no deposit limit. The licensed online operator requires each new account holder to set a Monthly Deposit Limit and a Monthly Betting Limit, and raising one takes effect after 24 hours.
• Payments: no statute lists payment methods. The licensed operator does not allow funding from a credit card or other credit, and requires deposits and withdrawals to be linked to an account in the holder's own name.
• Helpline: 1800-6-668-668, the National Problem Gambling Helpline.

Licensed operators may advertise only with GRA approval. Advertising unlawful gambling is an offence.

• Rule: GRA states that all forms of advertising and promotion by licensed gambling operators are prohibited unless otherwise approved by GRA. A licence may require approval before an advertisement is published in Singapore (s. 57(2)(d)). Casino advertising needs GRA approval under the Casino Control Act (land-based).
• Offence: advertising unlawful gambling carries a fine up to S$20,000 and is strict liability (s. 85). It covers advertising from abroad to persons in Singapore, and a domain name or URL counts as part of a gambling advertisement.
• Channels: television, radio, outdoor, online and social media are all allowed only with GRA approval and only for a licensed operator. No watershed or time-of-day restriction is stated.
• Bonuses and promotions: a welcome bonus or free bet is an inducement to gamble, which a licence may restrict, prohibit or subject to GRA's prior approval (s. 57(2)(e)). Sending an inducement to an underaged individual carries a fine up to S$300,000 or imprisonment up to 6 years, or both.
• Affiliates and influencers: there is no affiliate licence. A person who publishes an advertisement for or on the direction of a licensee has a defence; one promoting an unlicensed operator is inside the offence. GRA may order a person to stop, remove the advertising and publish a corrective advertisement (s. 87).

The enforcement rules matter more than any duty for an operator that has no licence route.

• Provider offence: conducting a gambling service without a licence is an offence with strict liability: a fine up to S$500,000 and imprisonment up to 7 years (s. 18), and the Act reaches services outside Singapore that persons in Singapore can use (s. 17).
• Players: gambling with an unlicensed provider, knowing or ought reasonably to have known, carries a fine up to S$10,000, or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both (s. 20).
• Blocking: access blocking orders carry a fine up to S$20,000 for every day, up to S$500,000 for each offence, for an internet service provider that does not comply (s. 117(6)). Payment blocking orders go to financial institutions and financial transaction providers (s. 118).
• Licensee sanctions: a financial penalty not exceeding S$1 million in place of revocation (s. 88(2)(e)); revocation; suspension for up to 6 months. Casino operators face up to 10% of annual gross gaming revenue for a serious breach, or up to S$1 million otherwise.
• Decided actions on GRA's list: S$2,250,000 against a casino operator in FY2023 for customer due diligence failures; S$100,000 against Singapore Pools in FY2025 for failing to verify customers' exclusion status.
• AML (casinos, land-based): GRA supervises the duties. A casino operator must perform customer due diligence on opening a patron account and on a payment of S$4,000 or more in a single transaction. The Gambling Control Act itself contains no anti-money-laundering provision.

The Gambling Control Act has no separate B2B licence for online suppliers. Supplier approvals are for gaming machines and casino equipment.

• Online: a person a licensee appoints under a gambling agency agreement is its gambling service agent. A licence condition may make the licensee responsible for its employees and gambling service agents (s. 57(2)(k)).
• Operating the game server: a game provider, platform provider or aggregator that runs the game for players in Singapore is itself providing a gambling service and would need a licence, which in remote gambling only Singapore Pools holds.
• Hosting and internet providers: a provider that only makes available material produced entirely by another person, without altering it, is not providing remote gambling merely because of that. Internet service providers are the addressees of access blocking orders.
• Payment providers: licensed by MAS under the Payment Services Act 2019, not by the gambling regulator.
• Gaming machines and casino equipment (land-based): GRA approves gaming machines, games and peripheral equipment on application by a gaming machine supplier (s. 73), at S$410 for each item. Under the Casino Control Act GRA approves manufacturers and test service providers; as of 9 November 2026 it lists 11 approved manufacturers with their authorised suppliers and 13 approved test service provider locations. The service standard for a new supplier application is 6 months.
• Foreign licences: no provision recognises a foreign B2B licence, and GRA approves each manufacturer or laboratory itself.

There is no route to a new online licence, so none is shown. The steps below are what can actually be done as of 9 November 2026.

1. 01

   Accept that there is no new online licence

   GRA service standards, 9 November 2026

   Remote gambling is licensed to Singapore Pools only, and GRA states it has no intention of issuing new licences for betting operations, lotteries and games of chance. Offering remote gambling to people in Singapore without a licence is an offence.

2. 02

   Check whether a class licence fits

   Remote Games of Chance Order, S 681/2022

   Free-to-play games (Type 1) and loot-box style games where the prize is not money (Type 2) run under a class licence with no application, if the Order's conditions are met.

3. 03

   Ask GRA before any filing

   [email protected]

   GRA invites prospective applicants to make contact first. There is no statutory pre-approval step and the application form is not published.

4. 04

   Suppliers: apply for equipment approval (land-based)

   6 months service standard

   Casino equipment makers and test laboratories apply to GRA for approval. A gaming machine supplier applies under s. 73 of the Act.

5. 05

   Advertise only with approval

   GRA approval

   All advertising and promotion by licensed operators is prohibited unless GRA approves it, and advertising unlawful gambling is an offence.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 9 Nov 2026.