Pakistan prohibits gambling in every form. There is no regulator, no licence, no lawful lottery and no gambling tax, and Article 37(g) of the Constitution directs the State to prevent gambling. The criminal law is split by territory. The Prevention of Gambling Act, 1977 now applies only in the Islamabad Capital Territory; Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan re-enacted it by ordinance in March 1978, and three of them have since raised the penalties. Each text defines gaming to include wagering and betting, naming horse racing, and makes it an offence to keep or finance a common gaming-house, to be found gaming in one, or to game in a public or private place, so players are liable as well as operators. Repeat offences carry up to three years in Islamabad and up to seven years in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The 1977 exemption for foreigners-only tourist complexes no longer applies in Islamabad, and none of the provincial texts read carries it. Section 294A of the Penal Code punishes keeping a lottery office, and its exception for state lotteries ceased to have effect in 1992. No statute mentions online gambling. Instead, since August 2025 the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency has arrested and charged influencers who promoted offshore betting apps, using the electronic crimes law and the Penal Code, and police have arrested people for gambling online. Broadcasters may not air gambling or betting adverts, and in 2023 the SECP and the Ministry of Information told companies and media to end deals with surrogate betting brands. No bill to legalise or regulate gambling appears among the bills introduced in the current National Assembly.
Citing the 1977 Act as the law in force nationwide: since March 1978 it applies only in Islamabad, and the provincial ordinances, with higher penalties in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, apply elsewhere. Treating section 11 of the 1977 Act as a casino route: it no longer applies in Islamabad and is absent from the provincial texts read. Reading the lack of an online gambling statute as a gap: gaming in a private place is an offence, and promoters of offshore apps are prosecuted under the electronic crimes law and the Penal Code. Treating the Penal Code state lottery exception as live: it ceased to have effect in 1992.
Online casino and online sports betting are prohibited in Pakistan, so no licence currently permits offering them. The licensing regime as recorded is set out below.
Our record shows no gambling licence requirement in Pakistan.
Pakistan has no dedicated gambling regulator.
Built from the record on this page, last verified 23 Sept 2026. The Licensing and Taxation sections carry the full detail and sources.
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Article 37(g)
Prevention of Gambling Act, 1977 (Act XXVIII of 1977)
Punjab Prevention of Gambling Ordinance, 1978 (Pb Ord. VII of 1978)
Sind Prevention of Gambling Ordinance, 1978 (Sind Ordinance No. V of 1978)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prevention of Gambling Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. V of 1978)
Balochistan Prevention of Gambling Ordinance, 1978 (Balochistan Ordinance X of 1978)
Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), sections 294A and 294B
Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, as amended by Act No. II of 2025
Public Gambling Act, 1867 (Act III of 1867)
Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct, 2015
PLD 1992 SC 153 (Supreme Court of Pakistan)
Cited by the Pakistan Code as the authority under which the words exempting State and provincially authorised lotteries from Penal Code s. 294A ceased to have effect from 30 June 1992. The judgment itself was not read for this record.
Arrested by the NCCIA at Lahore airport and charged under PECA ss. 13, 14, 25 and 26 and Penal Code ss. 294B and 420 for promoting platforms including 1xBet, Bet365, B9 Game and Binomo; summoned for indictment in November 2025 and granted post-arrest bail by the Lahore High Court on 24 November 2025 against surety bonds of Rs 1 million
Arrested by NCCIA Lahore for advertising betting apps including Quotex on YouTube; FIR 222/25 under PECA ss. 13, 14, 25 and 26 and Penal Code ss. 294B and 420
NCCIA registered cases for promoting illegal online trading and gambling apps and formed raid teams after they did not cooperate with three summonses
Islamabad police arrested eight people betting on animal fights and recovered Rs 230,000 in cash
Arrested by police for online gambling, with laptops and mobile phones seized
25 Jan 1867
Public Gambling Act, 1867 enacted for common gaming-houses in British India
21 May 1977
Prevention of Gambling Act, 1977 enacted for the whole of Pakistan during the emergency
15 Mar 1978
The federal Act lapses outside Islamabad and the Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ordinances take effect; the Balochistan ordinance is published on 22 March
6 Nov 1985
Balochistan raises gambling penalties and drops the tourist-complex exemption
30 Jun 1992
The state lottery exception in Penal Code s. 294A ceases to have effect
19 Aug 2015
PEMRA Code of Conduct bars broadcast advertising of lotteries, gambling and betting
21 Nov 2023
SECP directs companies to end advertising and sponsorship deals with surrogate advertisers of betting platforms
19 Dec 2023
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting warns media over surrogate betting brands shown during cricket coverage
17 Aug 2025
NCCIA arrests YouTuber Saad ur Rehman over promotion of betting apps
24 Nov 2025
Lahore High Court grants him bail; the case proceeds to charge
Nothing points to legalisation: no gambling bill appears in the National Assembly's lists of government or private members' bills introduced since March 2024. What to watch is enforcement. The NCCIA cases against influencers who promoted betting apps, including Saad ur Rehman, whose indictment was under way in November 2025, will test how far the electronic crimes law and s. 294B of the Penal Code reach offshore gambling promotion. The 2025 amendment to that law gave a new Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority power to block online content on public order and morality grounds; whether it is used against gambling sites is open. Surrogate betting brands around cricket broadcasts remain the main advertising risk.
The State Department's 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report says senior Cambodian officials benefited from and protected scam compounds, that no scam centre trafficker was prosecuted, and that casinos with a documented history of hosting scam centres were licensed in January. It lands as Cambodia sends inspectors into casinos to enforce its online gambling ban.
The International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud was formally launched on 10 September, with the United Nations and Interpol represented as observers. Its initiating countries include Cambodia, whose regulator has spent the past year revoking casino licences over links to exactly the scam operations the alliance exists to disrupt.
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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. Only tier 1 and tier 2 sources can support a fact on their own.
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Code)
The Pakistan Code footnote states the Act ceased to have effect from 15 March 1978 on revocation of the emergency, except in the Islamabad Capital Territory; the provinces re-enacted it by ordinance. A second footnote records that section 11 (tourist complex saving) is not applicable in the Islamabad Capital Territory under Act XIII of 1987.
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Code)
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Code)
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Code)
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Code)
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Code)
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Government of Balochistan (Balochistan Code)
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Government of the Punjab (Punjab Laws Online)
The official Punjab law portals did not respond from outside Pakistan on 2026-09-23; the text was read from the Internet Archive snapshot of the official page taken on 25 March 2023, so amendments after that date are not reflected.
Archived copyLaw Department, Government of Sindh (Sindh Laws)
The Sindh law portal did not respond from outside Pakistan on 2026-09-23; the gazette scan was read from the Internet Archive copy of the official file. It is the text as promulgated, and later Sindh amendments were not checked.
Archived copyPakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
Associated Press of Pakistan (state news agency)
National Assembly of Pakistan
National Assembly of Pakistan