Despite Sri Lanka‘s Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) indicating that the first set of gambling regulations would be published by 30 June, the Authority now looks forward to presenting the draft regulations later in 2026, GRA Chairperson N M W N Bandara and GRA Acting Director General Gaya Adikari informed the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on Tuesday.
“The authority did not expect full operationalisation until 30 November 2026 but rather that regulatory activities would commence in phases with a first set of regulations expected to be published by 30 June 2026,” COPF Chairperson Harsha de Silva said, referencing a previously made statement presented to the Committee.
However, GRA Acting Director General Gaya Adikari stated that the Authority was still in the process of awaiting a review of the draft, by way of a special committee that had been appointed by the Government’s Cabinet of Ministers.
“We have already come up with the draft, and currently an expert committee is appointed with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. The reviewing process [of the draft] has been already undertaken.”
“Under the first phase, we expect Section 19 ministerial order to define authorised gambling, regulation for licensing, online gambling and the anti-money laundering. We expect the expert committee to come up with the observations and recommendations, at least by the end of this month.”
The COPF Chair expressed frustration over the repeated delays, noting that similar promises had been made since 2022.
“I’m quite tired of you people telling us that it is going to take three more months. This has been said since 2022, you know, long before you came here. Every time it’s getting postponed, but the industry is thriving,” he said.
“The more you delay the worse the problem becomes.” Citing a report published by Japanese news website Nikkei Asia on Sri Lanka’s growing prominence as a gambling hub, De Silva added: “But you saw the report by Nikkei that this is fast becoming an online scam hub. So you have to hurry up. I think you need to understand this from the scammer side also. Because we may be misled because maybe these are good, honest, decent people who may not really think about how these guys operate.”
Concerns were also raised over the lack of industry expertise on the review committee and the absence of consultation with local operators. When asked whether the board had spoken to local operators, GRA Chairperson Bandara replied: “No. As the board. No.”
When pressed further on whether a stakeholder consultation with industry operators had taken place, Adikari responded: “We didn’t.”
The COPF urged the Authority to engage with industry stakeholders and experts in the meantime, warning that a delay in consultations would lead to further postponement of the publication of the regulations.
“You have not asked the Government what their view is. You have not asked the industry what their view is. You are going to pass the regulations and then either we have to postpone the enactment or a lot of things will happen,” De Silva said.
The regulations that had been discussed are supplementary regulations required to make the existing Gambling Regulatory Authority Act operational.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, No. 17 of 2025, was certified by the Speaker on 3 September 2025 and came into operation on 1 December 2025 . The Act itself established the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) and repealed several older laws, including the Casino Business (Regulation) Act.