Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said Bangladesh is working on legislation to control gambling, betting, and online gambling. He added that the proposed law would be placed before parliament in the coming session.
Old Law Leaves Digital Gaps
The current law goes as far back as 1867. It was written for a different era, when enforcement focused on physical gambling venues. Online betting now reaches users through payment apps, social media ads, and in-game promotions, making the legal gap harder to ignore.
Ahmed said that the government plans to repeal this outdated act and introduce new regulations. This move would make it easier to curb gambling through digital gambling networks.
Payment Channels Are Already Under Review
The proposed law comes on the back of measures already taken by the Bangladesh Bank. In November 2025, the central bank instructed all 13 mobile financial service providers in the country to take urgent steps to prevent transactions linked to illegal online gambling.
Providers were ordered to identify suspicious accounts, create task forces within the companies, and develop systems for automated monitoring. The central bank also required a public reporting portal and helpline for gambling-related complaints.
The payment issue is big enough to influence policy-making as well. TBS reported that the flow of money out of the country through online gambling could be about Tk5,000 crore, citing a senior Bangladesh Bank official. The same report stated that identifying the true purpose of person-to-person transactions poses a challenge to the payment providers.
The information suggests that enforcement cannot rely only on blocking websites. Payment monitoring will also remain part of the state response.
Betting Ads Show a Wider Problem
Advertising is another area where the pressure can be seen. According to research conducted by Dismislab, betting ads have been observed in mobile games used by Bangladeshi players. The Daily Star has stated that nearly 1 out of 11 ads observed in those games were associated with betting.
This is another area that highlights the loophole in digital control measures. Users do not even need to find online gambling websites themselves. Promotions can show up inside popular mobile games played by younger people.
The challenge is more complex for authorities as the problem will not simply be about issuing licenses or blocking websites.
What the Draft Law Signals
Bangladesh can update the legal language, but enforcement will depend on banks, telecom regulators, app platforms, and law enforcement moving in the same direction. The strongest signal so far is clear: Bangladesh now treats online betting as a digital finance and public policy issue, not only as an old gambling offence.
