"Cards on the table": What new gambling Bill means for Sri Lanka's casino future

GAMBLING in Sri Lanka has long been governed by a patchwork of laws and casinos have operated for decades under various licensing regimes. So why is the Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill creating such a buzz? Is it the potential for stronger governance and investor confidence? Or is it excitement driven by the big names behind the scenes, like Melco Resorts & Entertainment, a global casino giant now entering the Sri Lankan market? Or perhaps is it the rumours of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan attending the grand opening of the Cinnamon Life casino that's capturing the imagination of the public.

- By Zara Mandviwalla Akbarally

With this new development, what is clear is that Sri Lanka's casino industry is poised for transformation and this Bill, with all its promises and pitfalls, is at the centre of it. The Bill marks a significant transition from a previously fragmented regulatory environment to a centralised authority vested with both administrative and enforcement powers. Several issues merit further scrutiny to ensure the framework is implemented with transparency and regulatory certainty, especially where large foreign investors are entering and operating in Sri Lanka.

Suspension, search and seizure

Investors need confidence that their licence will not be revoked, cancelled or suspended arbitrarily. The Director-General (DG) has broad administrative and supervisory powers over the entire gambling licensing process and enforcement. The Authority has broad investigatory powers to enter, inspect, seize documents, and access computer systems based on "reasonable grounds," which is not clearly defined. The DG has broad authority to reject, suspend, or cancel licences, with relatively vague language like "charged for the commission of an offence," which raises serious concerns for foreign investors. The absence of a requirement for conviction means that even preliminary, unproven allegations, regardless of merit, could result in immediate operational disruption.

No judicial warrant is explicitly required before such inspections, which could raise due process concerns. The ability to access, reproduce, share extensively and remove data from computer systems may raise cybersecurity and confidentiality issues, particularly for global operators with sensitive customer data. In jurisdictions with weak institutional checks and balances, such open-ended powers are vulnerable to abuse and potentially used for political leverage, especially in high-stakes industries like gambling.