Gambling Regulatory Authority reconstituted from Casino Regulatory Authority

Singapore's Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) was reconstituted from the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) on 1 August 2022, the same date the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Act (GRA Act) and the Gambling Control Act (GC Act) took effect¹. The GRA is a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs and is responsible for regulating the gambling industry in Singapore¹.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) states that gambling in Singapore is tightly regulated and that gambling activities are prohibited unless they are exempted or licensed¹. The GRA's stated mission is to protect the people of Singapore by keeping gambling honest and free of criminal influence, and minimizing the harms from gambling¹.

The GRA has said that all standards and notices issued before its formation on 1 August 2022 remain in effect unless otherwise stated⁵. The GRA may issue technical standards and may issue notices to casino operators, manufacturers of gaming equipment and suppliers of gaming equipment⁵.

The GC Act also created a class license regime for lower-risk gambling services such as lucky draws. Under it, a person or entity does not apply to the GRA for a license and does not submit notifications or documents; the operator may proceed as long as it meets the conditions in the relevant class license order². Operators who cannot comply must not conduct the game of chance or lottery, and may face regulatory action or be guilty of an offense under the Gambling Control Act².

For cause-related and survey-related games, no fees may be collected from participants, and there are no restrictions on the types of prizes that can be awarded⁷. Records for non-instant games or lotteries must be kept for at least five years⁷. The GRA states there will be no waiver allowed for any class license conditions⁷. Mystery boxes are listed as a class license category, with more details to be provided at a later date².

What it means for players

The regulator that oversees gambling in Singapore changed on 1 August 2022, but the practical position for people who gamble there did not change on that date: gambling remains prohibited unless exempted or licensed¹. Existing standards and notices issued under the CRA stayed in force⁵, so casino operators continued under the same technical requirements.

The class license regime affects small, low-stakes games rather than casino play. Lucky draws run by charities, businesses, schools and event organizers fall under class licenses, and participants in those games generally pay nothing to take part⁷. For casino players, the Gambling Control Act and the GRA's oversight sit alongside the earlier Casino Control Act, which was enacted in 2006 and set up the CRA¹. The Remote Gambling Act, enacted in 2014, covers remote gambling and includes website blocking, payment blocking and advertising bans¹.

What happens next

The GRA states that amendments to the Fundraisers Class Licence Order take effect from 27 August 2026, and that between 27 August 2026 and 26 August 2028 certain organizations providing indirect social services, or services or resources for the social service sector, are eligible persons for fundraiser lotteries⁴. No further dated steps for the GRA's wider remit have been reported.