The rollout of Sri Lanka’s first regulations under its unified gambling framework has been delayed after authorities missed a June 30th target and declined to provide a revised date.
The regulations remain under expert review. They must then be submitted to the Attorney General’s Department before proceeding to Cabinet approval, gazette publication and parliamentary approval, according to The Sunday Morning.
The first package will cover licensing and fees, online gambling, anti-money laundering controls and a ministerial order defining the forms of gambling authorized under Section 19 of the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act.
An international consultant prepared the initial draft, but additional vetting requirements have prolonged the process, the newspaper reported, citing the acting director general of the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA).
The authority originally aimed to publish the first regulations by June 30th and become fully operational by November 30th, 2026.
GRA Acting Director General Gaya Adikari separately told Sri Lanka’s Committee on Public Finance that a Cabinet-appointed expert committee was reviewing the draft. Its recommendations were expected by the end of July, according to an earlier report by The Morning.
However, GRA Chairman Wasantha Nawaratne Bandara and Adikari acknowledged that the authority had not consulted existing gambling operators on the regulations. Committee Chairman Harsha de Silva warned that delaying stakeholder consultations could further slow their introduction.
The authority expects to appoint a permanent director general in early August.
International specialists are also due to support the process. A UK Gambling Commission representative is expected to visit Sri Lanka on August 10th, while experts from the European Union Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism are due to visit during the month, according to Ceylon Today.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority Act No. 17 of 2025 was certified on September 3rd, 2025, and took effect on December 1st. It established a single regulator covering land-based casinos, online gambling, offshore operations and betting activities, but supporting regulations are still required to implement many of its provisions.
