Singapore introduces Remote Gambling Bill

Singapore: The Remote Gambling Bill was introduced for first reading in the Singapore parliament today to provide a legislative framework to regulate remote gambling activities in the republic.
“Remote Gambling” refers to gambling through means such as the internet, telephone or other kinds of technology for facilitating communication.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the global remote gambling industry is large and growing rapidly and many countries have been reviewing their regulatory regimes. Singapore has strict laws on gambling.
MHA said the provision of gambling is not permitted unless specifically allowed for by way of an exemption or licence.
However, the republic’s current laws do not expressly address remote gambling as they were enacted before the internet era.
MHA said the objectives for regulating remote gambling are to maintain law and order and protect young and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by remote gambling.
The Bill will define and prohibit remote gambling activities.
It will enable the government to introduce a comprehensive set of blocking measures such as website blocking, payment blocking and advertising bans.
The Bill also provides for a tightly controlled exemption regime.
In developing the Bill, MHA studied the laws and practices of other jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Norway and France.
A six-week long public consultation was held to seek feedback on the proposed framework.
Consultations with grassroots, social services, religious and industry groups were also conducted and their views considered. – Bernama