Malaysia has no lawful online gambling. The Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 bans games of chance or of mixed chance and skill played for money outside a licence, and the Betting Act 1953 bans bookmaking and makes it an offence to bet with a bookmaker by any means, so players as well as operators are liable. The Ministry of Finance is the licensing authority: it licenses the casino at Resorts World Genting under section 27A of the 1953 Act for three months at a time, pool betting under the Pool Betting Act 1967 and lotteries under the Lotteries Act 1952, while the Totalizator Board conducts horse race betting. The Ministry said in August 2026 that the licences in force date from 1990s approvals and that none has been added since late 2022. The Budget 2019 speech set casino duty at 35 per cent of net collections and gaming machine duty at 30 per cent, and licensed betting and gaming also bears service tax. Muslims in the Federal Territories commit a separate Syariah offence by gambling. Enforcement falls to the police, with MCMC asking platforms to remove gambling content and internet providers to block sites: 457,562 gambling items were removed between January 2025 and May 2026. The Online Safety Act 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026, but its list of harmful content does not name gambling. A bill on illegal and online gambling was announced in February 2026 but had not reached Parliament at review.
Treating the Online Safety Act 2025 as a gambling law: its First Schedule does not list gambling, and MCMC acts on gambling content by request to platforms and under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Treating pool betting licences as sports betting licences: the Pool Betting Act covers totalisator betting only, and fixed-odds bookmaking is an offence. Assuming the licensed casino is open to everyone: Muslims commit a Syariah offence by gambling, even in a licensed venue.
Online casino and online sports betting are prohibited in Malaysia, so no licence currently permits offering them. The licensing regime as recorded is set out below.
The regulator is the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF).
We record 3 licence types for Malaysia.
For the Gaming licence under section 27A of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, the annual fee is MYR 150,000,000 (as of 2 Nov 2018).
| Licence type | Application fee | Annual fee | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaming licence under section 27A of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953Casino licence fee raised from RM120 million to RM150 million a year in the Budget 2019 speech; the implementing instrument was not located. | Not yet verified | MYR 150,000,000 (as of 2 Nov 2018) | Up to three months, renewable for periods of up to three months |
Built from the record on this page, last verified 23 Sept 2026. The Licensing and Taxation sections carry the full detail and sources.
Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 (Act 289)
Akta Rumah Judi Terbuka 1953
Akta Pertaruhan 1953
Akta Loteri 1952
Pool Betting Act 1967 (Act 384)
Akta Pertaruhan Pool 1967
Racing (Totalizator Board) Act 1961 (Act 494)
Akta Perlumbaan (Lembaga Totalisator) 1961
Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866)
Akta Keselamatan Dalam Talian 2025
Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588)
Akta Komunikasi dan Multimedia 1998
Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997 (Act 559)
Akta Kesalahan Jenayah Syariah (Wilayah-Wilayah Persekutuan) 1997
Service Tax Regulations 2018, First Schedule Group F and regulation 5
Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code under the Online Safety Act 2025
Bill on illegal gambling, including online gambling
Kedah State Government: leave to appeal refused (Federal Court) on the state's refusal of business licences for number forecast outlets
12 Aug 2026
The Federal Court unanimously refused the Kedah State Government leave to appeal against the decision quashing its move to stop issuing and renewing business licences for number forecast betting operators in the state, holding that the threshold in section 96(a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 was not met, with RM50,000 costs.
Gaming licence under section 27A of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953
Pool betting licence under section 5 of the Pool Betting Act 1967
Lottery permit under section 4 of the Lotteries Act 1952
649 raids and 945 arrests between 19 June and 20 July 2026; bets worth about RM35 million detected; 637 websites promoting online gambling identified with MCMC, some blocked.
Raids on 19 premises and 161 arrests, including five local men believed to be directors or shareholders; the syndicate ran its own betting app for local and neighbouring-country customers with credit turnover of about RM27 million a day.
Guilty plea under section 4(1)(g) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953; bound over for two years with a RM2,000 surety.
MCMC had identified more than 470,000 harmful items for removal in 2026 and platforms removed 93 per cent; 91 per cent of the requests concerned online gambling and scams, according to the Communications Minister.
Between 1 January 2025 and 31 May 2026, platforms removed 457,562 online gambling items (98 per cent of 467,772 requests) and internet service providers blocked 1,778 gambling websites at MCMC's request.
25 Jun 1953
Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 in force in Peninsular Malaysia
27 Mar 1961
Racing (Totalizator Board) Act 1961 in force in Peninsular Malaysia
1 Nov 1967
Pool Betting Act 1967 in force
15 Apr 1992
Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 extended to Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan
2 Nov 2018
Budget 2019 speech raises the casino licence fee to RM150 million, casino duty to 35 per cent and gaming machine duty to 30 per cent
1 Jan 2023
Special number forecast draws cut from 22 to eight a year
22 May 2025
Online Safety Act 2025 published in the Gazette
1 Jan 2026
Online Safety Act 2025 comes into force
15 Feb 2026
Deputy Prime Minister says a bill on illegal and online gambling is being drafted
1 Jul 2026
Dewan Rakyat passes the Cybercrimes Bill 2026, which contains no gambling offence
22 Jul 2026
Police report 945 arrests in the World Cup online gambling operation
5 Aug 2026
Communications Minister says platforms have been given time to automate removal of gambling content under the Online Safety Act codes
12 Aug 2026
Federal Court refuses the Kedah government leave to appeal in the number forecast licensing case
27 Aug 2026
Ministry of Finance says no new gambling licence has been issued since late 2022
The dedicated bill on illegal and online gambling announced in February 2026 is the item to watch; it had not been tabled at review, and the Cybercrimes Bill passed by the Dewan Rakyat on 1 July 2026 does not cover gambling. MCMC is using the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code under the Online Safety Act to push platforms towards automatic removal of gambling content, which platforms said they needed time to build. The Federal Court's August 2026 refusal of leave to the Kedah government leaves standing the decision that quashed the state's move to stop issuing and renewing business licences for number forecast outlets, and the Ministry of Finance says it has issued no new gambling licence since late 2022 and will keep licensed gambling limited.
Genting Berhad wants RM1.25 billion, approximately $306 million, from shareholders to pay down borrowings that have climbed to RM45.25 billion. The Lim family has committed its 45% share; the rest is not yet underwritten, and Maybank Investment Bank says this may not be the last call on investors.
The Åland operator behind mycasino.ch will give Meta licence documents and website addresses so Facebook and Instagram can tell Swiss licensees from offshore operators and their affiliates. Meta has said nothing publicly, and the pilot comes a week after Dutch operators took the platform to court.
Immigration officers, the National Bureau of Investigation and the army raided two sites in Zamboanga Sibugay on 2 October and found some 3,000 mobile phones. The Bureau of Immigration calls it this year's biggest offshore gaming bust, which says as much about the ban as about the raid.
S&P Global has published a credit FAQ warning that Genting Bhd may not be able to defend its investment-grade rating while pursuing $10.5 billion of expansion in New York and Singapore. Fitch cut the group to the same rung on Monday. It now sits one notch above speculative grade with a negative outlook and, in S&P's words, no more buffer.
The communications minister said there should be an annual award for the platform that commits the most sins against Malaysians, and named Facebook. The number that matters is not 78. It is 30, the minutes his regulator spends on each of 470,593 takedown requests.
Genting Bhd’s ongoing takeover attempt for its subsidiary, Genting Malaysia Bhd, has come under further scrutiny, with an independent adviser labelling the
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has publicly challenged new social media license requirements in Malaysia. The company warns
This week felt like a tale of two industries. In one, we saw colossal, forward-looking investments designed to conquer the next frontier. In the other, we saw
The government of Malaysia has issued a sharp public rebuke to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, accusing the tech giant of an
Source tiers. Tier 1: the law, official gazette, licence register or regulator itself. Tier 2: other official sources such as ministries, parliaments, courts and statistics agencies. Tier 3: established trade press, used to find and date the primary source. Only tier 1 and tier 2 sources can support a fact on their own.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Official reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. Later amendments, if any, are not reflected; none relevant to the provisions cited was identified at review.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Official reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. Later amendments, if any, are not reflected; none relevant to the provisions cited was identified at review.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Official reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. Later amendments, if any, are not reflected; none relevant to the provisions cited was identified at review.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Official reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. Later amendments, if any, are not reflected; none relevant to the provisions cited was identified at review.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Official reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. Later amendments, if any, are not reflected; none relevant to the provisions cited was identified at review.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. The Act has been amended since, and the Communications and Multimedia (Amendment) Bill 2026 was before Parliament in 2026; only section 263 is relied on here.
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia, Laws of Malaysia portal (lom.agc.gov.my)
Official reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006. Later amendments, if any, are not reflected; none relevant to the provisions cited was identified at review.
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
Copy of the gazetted text hosted by Zul Rafique and Partners
Copy of the official text on a law firm host, used because the Act is not downloadable from lom.agc.gov.my without a session token. Its First Schedule matches the harmful content categories MCMC lists on its own ONSA page (my-onsa-page).
Parliament of Malaysia (parlimen.gov.my)
Parliament of Malaysia (parlimen.gov.my) (translated)
Bank Negara Malaysia (amlcft.bnm.gov.my)
Royal Malaysian Customs Department
The guide dates from 2018 and its worked examples assume a 6 per cent service tax rate; it is used only for the scope of the tax and the valuation rule, not for the current rate.
Ministry of Finance Malaysia (belanjawan.mof.gov.my) (translated)
Announces the rates; the implementing instruments were not located. No later change was found in the Budget 2025 or Budget 2026 speeches.
Ministry of Finance Malaysia (belanjawan.mof.gov.my)
Ministry of Finance Malaysia (belanjawan.mof.gov.my) (translated)
Ministry of Finance Malaysia (mof.gov.my), reproducing Bernama (translated)
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Report by the government broadcaster of an official statement; the underlying statement was not found on the ministry or agency site.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Report by the government broadcaster of an official statement; the underlying statement was not found on the ministry or agency site.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Report by the government broadcaster of an official statement; the underlying statement was not found on the ministry or agency site.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Report by the government broadcaster of an official statement; the underlying statement was not found on the ministry or agency site.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Interim figures. Gives the operation period as 11 June to 19 July 2026; the final report of 22 July (my-rtm-soga-2026-07) gives 19 June to 20 July. The later report is followed.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Report by the government broadcaster of an official statement; the underlying statement was not found on the ministry or agency site.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Court report by the government broadcaster; the court record itself was not available online.
Portal Berita RTM, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (Ministry of Communications) (translated)
Report by the government broadcaster of an official statement; the underlying statement was not found on the ministry or agency site.
Free Malaysia Today
Reports the Deputy Prime Minister's statement as carried by Bernama. No government text of the statement was found, and no such bill appears in the Dewan Rakyat 2026 bill list (my-parl-bills).
Genting Malaysia Berhad
Company report, used only to identify the casino licensee and the three-monthly renewal, which matches section 27A of the Common Gaming Houses Act.