May 26, 2026 · Dhaka, Bangladesh: When British administrators drafted the Public Gambling Act in 1867, Dhaka was a provincial backwater and the closest thing to a smartphone was a telegraph wire. Yet for 159 years, that same colonial statute has remained Bangladesh’s only formal tool for policing gambling. That is finally about to change.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed confirmed on Sunday that the government has nearly finished writing a replacement law — one designed from the ground up to tackle online wagering, mobile betting apps, and the vast digital grey market that has flourished precisely because the 1867 text never imagined the internet. The new bill will be placed before parliament in its next session.
A Law Born Before Electricity, Asked to Police TikTok Ads
The original Act forbids running a gaming house and participating in public gambling — sensible enough for a colonial administration worried about card tables. But it contains no clause covering a Bangladeshi sitting at home, placing a live bet on a cricket match through a Curaçao-licensed app, paying via a bKash transfer. That legal silence is what offshore platforms have quietly built a market on. Analysts put the country’s online gambling audience in the millions, with cricket driving the bulk of activity.
The government has been plugging the gap with workarounds. The Cyber Security Ordinance of 2025 introduced penalties topping one crore taka — roughly $85,000 USD — along with prison terms for anyone caught operating or promoting online gambling. Raids by the Criminal Investigation Department shut down dozens of apps, Bangladesh Bank froze accounts tied to suspected betting transactions, and over a thousand mobile financial service agents lost their licences.
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What Tougher Rules Will Look Like
Ahmed was direct: online betting now represents a genuine threat to young Bangladeshis, the national economy, and public order. The full text of the incoming bill has not been released, but the direction is clear. Expect expanded powers to block VPN-assisted access to betting sites, stricter scrutiny of cryptocurrency transfers, higher penalties for users as well as operators, and formal coordination between the BTRC, CID, and the National Cyber Security Agency.
What This Means if You Bet Online
For the millions of Bangladeshis who currently use offshore platforms, the risk is growing. Enforcement has already moved beyond targeting operators alone — account freezes and licence revocations affect ordinary users indirectly. Once the new legislation passes, that exposure is likely to become more direct. Parliament’s next session will be the moment to watch.
SUMMARY
- Bangladesh’s government is finalising a bill to scrap the 159-year-old Public Gambling Act and replace it with a law fit for the smartphone era.
- Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed says the draft is nearly complete and will go before parliament in its next sitting.
- Existing interim rules already allow fines exceeding 1 crore BDT and prison time for operators; the new law is expected to go further.
- Millions of Bangladeshis currently bet on cricket through offshore platforms — a practice the new framework aims to shut down decisively.
