Amendments by Act 29 of 2024 take effect

Amendments to Singapore's Casino Control Act 2006 made by the Casino Control (Amendment) Act 2024 took effect on 21 September 2026, according to the current text of the Act on Singapore Statutes Online¹. The same commencement date applies to related amendments to the Gambling Control Act 2022³.

The amending Act, numbered 29 of 2024, was passed by Parliament on 10 September 2024 and assented to by the President on 30 September 2024, and was published in the Acts Supplement on 3 October 2024². It set two commencement dates: 30 October 2024 and 21 September 2026². The provisions that took effect on 21 September 2026 include the amended section 168 of the Casino Control Act, headed "List of excluded persons"¹.

The amendments define self-exclusion as "a ban of a person from entering or remaining on, or taking part in any casino gambling or promotional game on, all casino premises"². A new section 165AA of the Casino Control Act deals with persons self-excluded from a casino¹. The amending Act also provides that a person who is subject to a self-exclusion they applied for remains subject to it, whenever it was made, until the National Council on Problem Gambling revokes it². The Council must provide or make available the list of excluded persons to the Gambling Regulatory Authority and the Commissioner of Police, and must do so without charge¹.

The amendments also cover remote gambling. The amending Act provides for a person to be banned from engaging in all manner of general remote gambling². Under the Gambling Control Act 2022, the Commissioner of Police may ban an individual for a fixed period by an entry ban, including on the basis of the individual's conviction in Singapore or elsewhere for an offense whether or not relating to gambling, and the Authority may also issue an entry ban where the integrity or apparent integrity of a gambling service is likely to be seriously prejudiced³. Neither the Commissioner nor the Authority is required to give an affected individual a chance to be heard, and the Commissioner is not required to give reasons other than that the decision was made on public interest grounds³. An entry ban takes effect when written notice is given³.

The amending Act also changed other provisions:

• It replaced "$100" with "$150" in one subsection and "$2,000" with "$3,000" in another²
• It replaced "2 years" with "3 years" in a provision on the Council²
• It deleted section 145 of the principal Act²
• It allows a committee to require a respondent to close any deposit account in a casino, and to require participation in counseling, rehabilitation or special education, or an assessment of harm from gambling including a clinical assessment if necessary²

What it means for players

For people who gamble in Singapore, the changes that took effect on 21 September 2026 concern who is barred from casino premises and from remote gambling. A self-exclusion applied for under the Casino Control Act bars a person from entering or remaining on, or taking part in any casino gambling or promotional game on, all casino premises, and it stays in force until the National Council on Problem Gambling revokes it². The list of excluded persons is shared with the Gambling Regulatory Authority and the Commissioner of Police¹. Casino operators are required to bar casino-excluded persons from casino premises, and it is lawful for those in charge of a casino, an agent of the operator or a casino employee to refuse entry or remove such a person¹. Under the Gambling Control Act 2022, a licensee must take all steps reasonably practicable to ensure an underaged individual or excluded person does not gamble, and is entitled and must refuse to pay money or other prizes won by such a person³. Entry bans can be issued without a hearing and, for the Commissioner of Police, without reasons beyond public interest grounds³. More detail on how exclusion works in Singapore is in our guide to gambling help and self-exclusion in Singapore and our page on casino exclusion orders and legal self-exclusion in Asia. The wider regional picture is covered in recent and pending gambling law changes in Asia.

What happens next

The sources do not set out any further commencement dates beyond 21 September 2026 for these amendments¹. No further steps have been reported.