Singapore pools the plug on online gambling with remote gambling bill

The proposed “tightly controlled regime” will pull the plug on remote gambling in Singapore, clamping down on all online gambling stakeholders from punters, to middlemen such as betting agents, as well as online gaming operators and syndicates.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said websites that “provide, facilitate or advertise remote gambling” may be blocked, and financial institutions will be instructed to block transfers to accounts linked to persons involved in unlawful remote gambling activities.

Regardless of where the bet is placed or where the remote gambling operator is located, individuals who gamble online or via the phone face a fine of up to US$ 4,000 and six months’ jail. Those who facilitate remote gambling face fines of between US$ 16,000 and US$ 160,000, and up to five years in jail.

Parties outside Singapore that provide remote gambling services to Singapore-based gamblers can be fined between US$ 16,000 and US$ 400,000, and jailed up to seven years.

In addition, parties who invite or facilitate people below 21 in remote gambling, and parties who employ or engage youth in the provision of remote gambling services, such as the distribution of prize money, will face a separate penalty of between US$16,000 and US$ 240,000, and up to six years in jail.

If the Remote Gambling Bill comes to pass, Singapore will have one of the toughest laws in the world against online gambling.

Reports say that while other countries have adopted either one or two of the three main measures to restrict remote gambling, Singapore will adopt all three measures: ban advertisements, block access to such websites and block payments to and from the sites with the proposed regulation.

There will, however, be exemptions to the proposed legislation. Gambling operators can apply to be exempted if they are based in Singapore, be not-for-profit, contribute to public, social or charitable purposes in Singapore, as well as have a good track record of compliance with Singapore’s legal and regulatory requirements.

“Exempted entities will be subject to strict operating conditions, in the areas of social safeguards, responsible gambling, gaming integrity and law and order,” the MHA stated. Indeed, there is little doubt on the perils of uncontrolled gambling.

Even without the anecdotes featured in national newspapers, of unnamed individuals who “lost half a million dollars in years of online gambling”, Singaporeans recognise that gambling, both online and off, has the ability to wreck lives and families.

When the idea for the Integrated Resorts (IR) and casinos in Singapore was proposed in 2004, it was met with protests from religious groups including Muslim leaders and a coalition of church leaders. The Singapore legislature eventually voted in favour of the economic benefits of the integrated resorts, while promising to keep a tight rein on managing the negative social impact of gambling. 

There is not expected to be much opposition to the passing of the Remote Gambling Bill in parliament. But some eyebrows have been raised over the exemptions written into the proposed anti-online gambling laws, which leave the door open for just one entity: Singapore Pools, a state-owned lottery and gambling operator.

Singapore Pools is owned by Singapore Totalisator Board, a statutory board under the Ministry of Finance. It currently operates three lottery games – TOTO, 4D, and Singapore Sweep – and is the sole legal bookmaker and totalisator for football and motor racing betting.

A not-for-profit organisation, Singapore Pools’ purpose is to provide Singaporeans with a legal avenue to gamble, while countering the illegal betting syndicates. Even as Singapore pulls the plug on online gambling, it seems Singapore Pools is set to rake in the profit. And we are talking about a lot of money.

According to the Global Gaming Outlook report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the projected gaming revenue from the Asia Pacific region could reach US$80 billion by 2015.

Singapore’s remote gambling market alone is estimated to be worth some US$300 million and expected to grow by 6-7 per cent annually, analysts say.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the revenue of the global remote gambling industry was estimated at US$35b in 2012, with an expected annual growth rate of about nine per cent – about five times the expected growth rate for terrestrial gambling.

For consumers, a restriction in competition usually means less choice, regardless of industry.

When existing incumbents, as reinforced by government regulations in the form of a Remote Gambling Bill are the only contenders possible, the reputation of a country’s governance and policies may take a bit of a dent for openness to new companies and investors.

This is a bit of a risk for the Singapore government has cultivated a very open economy.  It will have to play up heavily the social benefits from charitable givings of the existing players to help ease the discontent from those who have taken a little flutter on the varied offerings online.