Legal casino gambling age in UgandaUganda regulates gambling through a single national statute, the Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016, and a single regulator, the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NLGRB). It is a licensing jurisdiction: lotteries, betting, casinos and gaming machines are lawful when run by an operator holding an NLGRB licence and unlawful otherwise. The 2016 Act was written for land-based operations and does not create a separate licence for internet gambling. Yet, according to the regulator, about 93% of gaming activity in Uganda now takes place online. Since 2019 a presidential directive has restricted the issue of new licences, and since 2023 Parliament has repeatedly changed how the sector is taxed. From 1 July 2026 operators pay a single 30% tax on gross gaming revenue and players’ net winnings are subject to a 15% withholding tax.
Key points
- The Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016 (Act No. 7 of 2016) commenced on 8 April 2016. It established the NLGRB and repealed the National Lotteries Act and the Gaming and Pool Betting (Control and Taxation) Act.
- In January 2019 the government announced, on the President’s instruction, that no new betting and gaming companies would be licensed. A 2025 legal guide describes this moratorium as still in force; we found no published instrument lifting it.
- The Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 2026 sets a unified gaming tax of 30% of stakes less payouts for both betting and gaming from 1 July 2026. Betting had previously been taxed at 20%.
- Under the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026, operators must withhold 15% of a player’s net winnings. Since 1 July 2025 all stakes and payouts must also pass through a centralised payments gateway licensed by the Bank of Uganda and linked to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
- The legal minimum age for gambling is 25. The NLGRB runs a self-exclusion scheme and a toll-free helpline (0800 285 800), and all gambling advertising requires its prior approval.
Last reviewed: 6 October 2026.
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Historical development
Before 2016 Uganda regulated gambling under two separate laws: the National Lotteries Act of 1967 and the Gaming and Pool Betting (Control and Taxation) Act of 1968. In a 2015 policy note, the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) recorded that gambling-related tax revenue had grown about thirty-fold in a decade, from UGX 0.24 billion in 2002/03 to UGX 7.4 billion in 2012/13. It also noted that a 15% tax on winnings had been introduced in the 2014/15 budget and that a combined lotteries and gaming board was being planned.
That reform became the Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016. Its published text records presidential assent on 28 December 2015 and commencement on 8 April 2016. Section 71 repealed “the National Lotteries Act and the Gaming and Pool Betting (Control and Taxation) Act”, bringing lotteries, casinos, betting and gaming machines under one regulator.
Sports betting, much of it on mobile phones, grew quickly in the following years and became a matter of public concern. In January 2019 the State Minister for Finance, David Bahati, announced a presidential directive on the sector. The Observer quoted him as saying: “there is no renewal of the licences of the companies that are operating. No new companies are going to be licensed, that is what the president has said”. It was widely reported as a “ban” (Africanews, 21 January 2019). In practice, the regulator has continued to publish annual lists of licensed companies, and later reporting describes the directive as a freeze on new licences rather than an end to renewals. The directive was a policy instruction, not an amendment to the Act.
Legal framework
The Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016
The principal statute is the Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016. A consolidated text from the 2023 revised edition of the Laws of Uganda is published by the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ULII). The provisions most relevant to this guide are:
- Section 1 defines “gaming” as “the playing of a game of chance for winnings in money or money’s worth”, which “includes gambling”, and defines “betting” broadly by reference to races, competitions, events and outcomes. Neither definition mentions the internet or remote play.
- Sections 2 and 4 establish the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board and set out its functions. These include regulating lotteries, gaming, betting and casinos, approving devices and software, collecting gaming tax, protecting the public from the adverse effects of gaming, and receiving, investigating and arbitrating complaints.
- Section 23 provides for a national lottery conducted by or on behalf of the Minister responsible for finance.
- Sections 39 and 40 allow the Minister to prescribe minimum capital requirements and to require security bonds from categories of licensee.
- Section 45 provides that every licence is valid until 31 December of the year in which it is issued, so licences must be renewed annually.
- Section 48 and Schedule 4 impose a gaming tax on licensed operators (see Taxation below).
- Sections 57 and 58 prohibit licensees from accepting minors or payments from them, and prohibit adults from taking part in a public lottery on a minor’s behalf. Each offence carries a fine of up to 1,000 currency points, up to four years’ imprisonment, or both.
- Section 61 requires the Board to establish a national electronic monitoring system to which gaming machines must be linked.
- Sections 64, 65 and 67 create the main offences of conducting or promoting an unlicensed lottery and of operating a casino, bingo, gaming machines or betting facilities without a licence.
- Section 70 empowers the Minister to make regulations, including on “advertising of casinos and gaming and betting” and on “assistance to persons who are or may be affected by problems related to gambling”.
Under Schedule 1 of the Act, one currency point equals UGX 20,000. The penalty for operating a casino or betting business without a licence under section 67, a fine of up to 48 currency points, is therefore at most UGX 960,000, together with or instead of up to two years’ imprisonment.
Amending and related legislation
The Act has been amended mainly through annual finance legislation. The Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 2023 raised the gaming tax, and the Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 2026 unified the rates for betting and gaming. Two tax statutes now also shape the sector: the Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act, 2025, which created the centralised payments gateway, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026, which introduced withholding tax on winnings. Broadcast and online advertising is additionally governed by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), whose Advertising Standards contain annexes on gambling, betting services, betting tipsters and lotteries.
Regulator and licensing model
The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board is a body corporate that licenses and supervises all lotteries, gaming and betting in Uganda. A newly constituted board was formally inaugurated in Kampala on 1 August 2025 (Gambling Insider).
Uganda follows a licensing model: private companies may operate if licensed, and there is no state monopoly. The exception is the national lottery, which is run under a single licence awarded on the Minister’s authority. The Act provides for casino, bingo, general betting, pool betting, betting intermediary, gaming machine, technical and gambling software licences. There is no distinct online or remote gaming licence. The regulator has acknowledged the gap: in May 2026 its staff said the law “did not adequately cover online gambling” because operations were “largely physical” when it was passed. One licence currently covers both physical and online activity (Focus Gaming News, 2 June 2026).
According to the same report and allAfrica, Uganda had 63 licensed gaming companies operating from 2,078 premises and employing about 23,000 people. The NLGRB publishes annual lists of licensed companies, including a list for 2026.
Annual renewal and the 2019 moratorium
Because licences expire every 31 December, operators must reapply each year. For 2026 the NLGRB opened renewals on 3 October 2025 with a deadline of 31 October 2025. It required tax clearance and good conduct certificates, audited accounts, a business plan and IT and data-security certification from the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U). Casinos must also register with the Financial Intelligence Authority as accountable persons under anti-money-laundering law. Physical premises must be at least 100 metres from schools, markets and places of worship (Focus Gaming News).
The 2019 directive is the main barrier to market entry. A detailed operators’ guide published by PML Daily in October 2025 described “the 2019 Licensing Moratorium” as still active, which makes existing licences valuable. We found no gazetted instrument or NLGRB notice either formalising or lifting the moratorium. Its exact legal basis and scope therefore remain unclear, and readers should confirm the current position with the regulator. The national lottery licence was treated separately: Ithuba Uganda Limited received a ten-year national lottery licence in August 2023, but ceased operations on 1 July 2026, according to the trade publication iGaming Afrika. We did not find an announced replacement.
Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced
Although the Act does not mention the internet, it does not limit gaming or betting to physical premises either. In practice the NLGRB licenses companies that offer betting and gaming online, and its licence covers both channels. An April 2024 explainer in the Daily Monitor, a sponsored “brand book” piece, observed that the Act “does not clearly permit or prohibit online gambling”. The regulator’s own statements now treat online activity as the core of the market. In August 2026 it said that online gaming accounted for 68% of gaming tax collections (Focus Gaming News, 30 August 2026). The working position is that online betting and casino games are lawful only when offered by an NLGRB licensee. Offering them to people in Uganda without a licence is an offence under sections 64 to 67.
Enforcement against unlicensed and offshore operators
The NLGRB relies on three main tools:
- Website blocking. The regulator identifies illegal betting sites, the UCC issues a directive, and telecom operators block access, according to the NLGRB. In August 2026 the regulator reported that 57 illegal online gaming platforms had been blocked (Focus Gaming News, 30 August 2026). The NLGRB and UCC met on 29 April 2026 to discuss illegal online gambling and the monitoring of gambling advertisements (Focus Gaming News).
- Payment controls. Section 93A of the Tax Procedures Code, inserted in 2025, requires operators to accept stakes and make payouts only through the centralised payments gateway licensed by the Bank of Uganda (see Taxation below). The gateway applies to licensed operators. It does not by itself stop payments to offshore sites.
- Machine seizures. The regulator reported confiscating 7,797 illegal gaming machines in a single year, with equipment worth UGX 6.21 billion destroyed (allAfrica, May 2026).
Advertising
Gambling advertising in Uganda requires the NLGRB’s prior approval. The Gaming and Betting (Advertisement) Directives, 2019, as reported by Business Focus on 16 October 2019, provide that “billboards and outdoor advertisement in form of posters and banners are prohibited”, apart from one sign at the entrance to licensed premises. They also prohibit endorsement by “popular or celebrated persons in society”. Radio and television advertisements may be aired only between 9 am and 5 pm and between 9 pm and 5 am, and approval lasts three months before resubmission. Video advertisements must carry voiced warnings. The UCC’s Advertising Standards add general rules, including that an advertisement “must not claim that a product or service is able to facilitate winning in games of chance”. The NLGRB’s website offers an “Advert Frameworks 2026” document for download, but we were unable to read its text, so this guide does not describe it.
Position of players
The offences in the Act are directed at operators, promoters, suppliers and licensees. Our review of the published text found no provision making it an offence for an adult to place a bet with, or play at, an unlicensed operator, and we found no reported prosecution of an adult player for doing so. The regulator’s public statements about illegal sites urge people to avoid and report them. We found none that threatened players with penalties.
That does not mean offshore play is protected. An unlicensed operator is outside the NLGRB’s complaints and arbitration function, outside the self-exclusion scheme and outside tax withholding and the payments gateway, so a player has no regulatory route to recover unpaid winnings. Uganda’s minimum age is unusually high. Anyone under 25 is a “minor” under the Act, and licensees commit an offence by accepting a minor’s stake. The NLGRB’s Responsible Gaming Directives of November 2025 restate that “the legal minimum age for gambling is 25 years”.
Taxation
Gaming tax under section 48 is levied on licensed operators “in addition to taxes prescribed by law”. It is calculated on stakes less payouts, which is in substance gross gaming revenue (GGR): the amount players lose to the operator. Returns are due by the 15th day of the following month. The rates have changed three times since 2016:
| Period | Betting | Gaming (including casino) | Withholding tax on players’ winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 to June 2023 | 20% of stakes less payouts | 20% of stakes less payouts | 15% (introduced in 2014/15) |
| July 2023 to June 2026 | 20% | 30% | Proposed for removal on gaming winnings in 2023; position disputed |
| From 1 July 2026 | 30% | 30% | 15% of net winnings |
The 2023 amendment. Parliament passed the Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2023 on 4 May 2023. According to the Parliament of Uganda, the Finance Committee explained that the measure would “remove the 15 per cent withholding tax on payments for winnings of gaming and instead increase the gaming tax to a rate of 30 per cent”, while sports betting stayed at 20%. Later commentary disagrees on whether the withholding tax was in fact removed for all products: PML Daily described its status after 2023 as “legally ambiguous”.
The 2026 amendments. Parliament approved the Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in April 2026 (iGaming Business). According to EY (June 2026), with effect from 1 July 2026:
- the gaming tax is 30% of total stakes less payouts for both betting and gaming, and payouts include the stake returned on a winning bet; and
- a new section 131 of the Income Tax Act requires 15% withholding tax on winnings, defined as “the difference between the pay-out and the staked amount”.
Sources differ on the details. EY reported that the withholding tax does not apply to national lottery winnings or to land-based casinos licensed under the Act. Focus Gaming News reported that the President returned the bill to Parliament in July 2026, that the land-based casino exemption was removed in the revised text, and that he assented on 20 August 2026, with the amendment in force from 1 July 2026. EY, writing earlier, gave the assent date as 18 May 2026. Operators must deduct the tax before paying customers and file monthly returns to the URA. The NLGRB and URA met operators on 11 September 2026 to discuss implementation.
The centralised payments gateway. The Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act, 2025 received assent on 30 June 2025 and took effect on 1 July 2025 (EY). Its new section 93A requires operators to receive stakes and make payouts only through “the gaming and betting centralised payments gateway system licensed by the Bank of Uganda”, linked to the URA’s electronic notice system. Under section 93B, an operator that fails to comply pays a penal tax of double the gaming or withholding tax due or 5,500 currency points (UGX 110 million), whichever is higher (SiGMA; Daily Monitor). The gateway works alongside the electronic monitoring system that the NLGRB operates under section 61 of the Act. New Vision reported in January 2026 that recorded stakes rose from UGX 2.4 trillion (self-declared) in 2022/23 to UGX 8.3 trillion in 2024/25, and that UGX 176 billion in gaming tax was collected between July and December 2025.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
The NLGRB operates a national self-exclusion scheme. Applicants complete an online form with proof of identity, choose a fixed period or permanent exclusion, and select the licensed operators from which they wish to be barred. They must acknowledge that “self-exclusion is a serious decision and that there is treatment available”, and may ask to be assigned a counsellor. The regulator reported in July 2026 that more than 2,000 people had used self-exclusion tools (Focus Gaming News).
The Responsible Gaming Directives, reported on 24 November 2025, require licensees to provide self-assessment tools, deposit limits, session reminders and self-exclusion options. Operators must also display responsible gaming messages and train staff to recognise problem gambling. Breaches may lead to fines or licence revocation (iGaming Afrika). The NLGRB lists a toll-free helpline, 0800 285 800, alongside +256 326 333 020 and a WhatsApp line, as well as a self-evaluation tool, on its website. We did not find a separate, publicly funded gambling-treatment service in the sources reviewed. See also our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Unified 30% tax and withholding on winnings (2026). Both took effect on 1 July 2026. Reports differ on the assent date and on whether land-based casinos are exempt from withholding, so the enacted text should be checked.
- National lottery (2026). The national lottery operator ceased operations on 1 July 2026. We found no announcement of a successor as of 6 October 2026.
- Reform of the 2016 Act (pending). In May 2026 the NLGRB said it was preparing amendments with the Solicitor General, the Ministry of Finance and Parliament, including separate licences for online and physical gaming and stronger monitoring of equipment and transactions (allAfrica). As of 6 October 2026 we found no bill published for this purpose.
Casino listings for players in Uganda
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator holds a licence from Uganda’s National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, and offering online casino games to people in Uganda without such a licence is an offence. Readers should check the NLGRB’s list of licensed companies before relying on an operator’s claims.
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Sources and further reading
- Republic of Uganda, The Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016 (Act No. 7 of 2016) (2016; copy hosted on the Uganda Business Licensing portal).
- Uganda Legal Information Institute, Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016 (revised edition 2023) (accessed 6 October 2026).
- National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, Home page and Licensed companies (accessed 6 October 2026).
- National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, Self-exclusion (accessed 6 October 2026).
- National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, Telecom Operators Key in Curbing Illegal Online Gaming Sites in Uganda (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Parliament of Uganda, New law to impose 30 per cent tax on betting (2023).
- Uganda Communications Commission, The Advertising Standards (accessed 6 October 2026).
- EY, Uganda issues Tax Amendment Acts for 2025 (2025).
- EY, Uganda issues Tax Amendment Acts for 2026 (2026).
- Economic Policy Research Centre, Gambling with our future? The benefits and costs of legalised gambling in Uganda (2015).
- Mandela, N. (PML Daily), Uganda’s Gambling Sector in 2025: A Definitive Legal and Regulatory Guide for Operators (2025).
- The Observer, Museveni bans gambling, betting in Uganda (2019).
- Africanews, Uganda president orders ban on sports betting (2019).
- Business Focus, Gov’t Issues Tough Advertising Guidelines To Betting Firms, Posters Banned (2019).
- Daily Monitor, All betting payouts to be wired through Bank of Uganda (2025).
- Daily Monitor (Brand Book), Navigating the Legal Landscape: The Status of Online Gambling in Uganda (2024).
- New Vision, How govt’s centralised gateway drove betting stakes to sh14 trillion (2026).
- allAfrica, Uganda: Gaming Regulator Moves to Amend Law to Tackle Rise in Online Gambling (2026).
- SiGMA, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) takes charge of betting pay-outs (2025).
- Gambling Insider, Uganda launches new National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (2025).
- iGaming Business, Uganda approves harmonised 30% tax rate for betting and gaming, with 15% burden on winnings (2026).
- Focus Gaming News, NLGRB Uganda targets licensing overhaul amid rapid growth in online gambling (2026); Uganda Gambling Board opens 2026 licence renewals with strict rules for operators (2025).
- Focus Gaming News, NLGRB and URA discuss new 15% withholding tax on betting wins (2026); Uganda gaming tax: online gaming tops 68% as crackdown expands (2026).
- Focus Gaming News, NLGRB, UCC move to tighten oversight of online gambling in Uganda (2026); NLGRB says 2,000+ bettors used self-exclusion tools (2026).
- iGaming Afrika, Uganda Strengthens Player Protection with Responsible Gaming Directives (2025); Uganda National Lottery Operator Ithuba Ceases Operations (2026).
