Gambling in the Maldives: Laws, Blocking and Online Casinos

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

The Maldives has no lawful gambling market. There are no casinos, no licensed betting shops, no national lottery and no regulator that issues gambling licences, and no online gambling service is authorised to serve people in the country. Islam is the state religion under the Constitution, and successive governments have treated gambling as incompatible with it. The criminal law, however, has a gap. The Penal Code that entered into force in July 2015 does not make gambling itself an offence. Since July 2024 the authorities have responded to the growth of online betting by blocking websites and, according to press reports, restricting related bank transactions. In December 2025 the government submitted a bill to amend the Penal Code so that gambling and the running of gambling establishments, including online platforms, would become criminal offences punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment. The bill passed its first reading in January 2026 and was sent to committee. This guide sets out the constitutional and statutory background, enforcement practice, the position of players and visitors, taxation, sources of support and the status of the reform.

Key points

No form of gambling is licensed in the Maldives, and there is no gambling regulator or licensing regime. No casino operates in the country, including on resort islands.
Article 10 of the Constitution makes Islam the state religion and provides that no law contrary to any tenet of Islam may be enacted.
The Penal Code (Law No. 9/2014), in force since 16 July 2015, does not contain an offence of gambling, according to Maldivian press reports. The previous penal code did punish gambling.
Since July 2024 the Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) has blocked online betting websites on police instructions.
A government-backed Penal Code amendment would make gambling and operating gambling establishments, including online, a fourth-degree offence carrying up to four years in prison. It was accepted at first reading on 5 January 2026 and sent to committee. Its later progress could not be confirmed.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.

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Historical development

Gambling has never been a legal industry in the Maldives. The country has been a Muslim society for centuries, and its legal system draws on Islamic law. Under the penal code that applied until 2015, gambling was a criminal offence. A 2015 report by Minivan News stated that under that code, gambling was punishable by six months’ imprisonment or a fine of MVR 150 (about US$10) (Minivan News, 1 July 2015).

Reported gambling cases in that period mostly involved small private games, often among migrant workers. The Maldives Police Service arrested 18 Bangladeshi nationals found gambling in a house in the Maafannu ward of Malé in December 2014, after obtaining a court warrant (Maldives Independent, December 2014). In June 2015 police arrested eight further Bangladeshi men in two separate raids in Malé and Hulhumalé, seizing cash and a deck of cards. The same report noted at least 17 similar arrests in Fuvahmulah and Addu City in 2013 (Minivan News, 1 July 2015).

The legal position changed when the new Penal Code came into force in July 2015. The same Minivan News report observed that the new code, then about to take effect, did not criminalise gambling. Maldivian news outlets repeated this point a decade later, when the government proposed to restore a gambling offence. The Atoll Times reported in December 2025 that gambling “is not currently an offence” under the Penal Code (Atoll Times, 10 December 2025).

Casinos have been raised occasionally as a possible tourism product, but no government has accepted the idea. In July 2019 a member of parliament asked at a parliamentary oversight committee session why casinos were not allowed. The then tourism minister, Ali Waheed, replied that the administration did not plan to allow casinos because the Constitution establishes the Maldives as an Islamic nation (Sun, 10 July 2019).

Legal framework

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The Constitution and Islamic law

The Constitution of the Maldives (2008) is the starting point. Article 10 states that “the religion of the State of the Maldives is Islam” and that Islam is one of the bases of all Maldivian laws. It also provides that “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives”. Gambling is prohibited in Islamic teaching, and PSM News reported that the government presented its reform as aligned with Islamic principles (PSM News, “Maldives Moves to Criminalise Gambling”), so a statute licensing casinos or betting would face a constitutional objection.

Article 19 is also relevant. It states that a citizen “is free to engage in any conduct or activity that is not expressly prohibited by Islamic Shari’ah or by law”. This wording suggests that conduct forbidden by Islamic law is not protected even where no statute prohibits it. It does not, however, create a criminal offence with a defined penalty. Maldivian commentators have therefore treated the absence of a gambling offence in the Penal Code as a real gap in enforcement. In December 2025 the newspaper Sun reported that “legal loopholes” made enforcement against gambling difficult (Sun, 10 December 2025).

The Penal Code 2014

The principal criminal statute is the Penal Code (Law No. 9/2014). The People’s Majlis records amendment bills to it under that number (People’s Majlis, committee page). An English translation is listed in the University of Nottingham’s Criminal Justice and Detention database under the date 16 July 2015 (CJAD, Maldives Penal Code 2014), the day the Code came into effect, replacing a penal law written in 1968 (Maldives Independent, 16 July 2015). The Code grades offences into classes of felony and misdemeanour, each with a standard sentence and a permitted range.

As enacted, the Code contains no offence of gambling or of operating a gambling business. This was reported in 2015 (Minivan News) and again in December 2025 and January 2026 (Atoll Times; Sun, 5 January 2026). Promoting or facilitating gambling may still involve other offences, such as fraud or money laundering, depending on the facts. No source reviewed for this guide described a prosecution of that kind.

Other relevant law

There is no gambling act, no lottery act and no statute creating a gambling regulator. Enforcement against foreign nationals can take place through immigration law. In April 2026 police arrested 38 Bangladeshi men in a joint intelligence and drug enforcement operation on suspicion of drug offences and gambling. They were handed to Maldives Immigration for deportation under the Immigration Act (Raajje, 18 April 2026).

Regulator and licensing model

The Maldives follows a prohibition model. In a prohibition model, the state does not authorise any operator, rather than licensing private companies or reserving gambling for a state monopoly. No public authority issues licences for casinos, betting, lotteries or online gaming, and no state-owned operator exists. As a result there is no licence register to check, and no operator can lawfully claim Maldivian authorisation.

Three public bodies have played a part in the response to gambling:

The Maldives Police Service identifies betting websites and gambling activity, carries out arrests and directs blocking. In July 2024 an assistant commissioner of police said that three or four sites had been identified and blocked (Maldives Voice, 10 July 2024).
The Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM), the telecommunications regulator, carries out blocking at network level. Its chief executive confirmed in July 2024 that several betting sites had been blocked on police directives (Maldives Voice, 10 July 2024).
The Attorney General’s Office has led legislative reform. In October 2024 Attorney General Ahmed Usham announced that the government would amend the law to ban online betting and gambling (The Edition, 31 October 2024).

Online gambling and enforcement

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No online casino, sportsbook, poker room or lottery is authorised to serve players in the Maldives, and no licence for online gambling can be obtained. Offshore operators that accept Maldivian customers have no local authorisation, whatever licences they hold elsewhere.

The use of foreign betting platforms has nevertheless grown. Maldivian outlets report that these websites and mobile apps are widely promoted through Telegram groups and other social media (The Edition, 10 December 2025). PSM News reported that the government’s proposal was prompted by the rapid spread of online gambling, with many residents using mobile and web-based apps (PSM News, “Maldives Moves to Criminalise Gambling”).

Website blocking

Blocking means that internet service providers are directed to prevent access to specified websites. CAM began blocking online betting websites nationwide in July 2024 (Maldives Voice, 10 July 2024). The authorities have not published how many sites have been blocked, and there is no public blocklist. In October 2024 The Edition reported that CAM had blocked commonly used betting websites with police assistance, but the number was not disclosed (The Edition, 31 October 2024). Blocking has limits. PSM News observed that new apps and sites were appearing faster than enforcement could keep up (PSM News, “Gov’t Moves to Criminalise Gambling as Online Betting Surges”).

Payments

Payment channels have also been targeted. According to PSM News, accounts at the Bank of Maldives (BML) had been used for gambling transactions through digital wallets, and the bank had begun blocking access to such platforms (PSM News, “Maldives Moves to Criminalise Gambling”). No published circular from the Maldives Monetary Authority, the central bank, specifically on gambling payments could be located for this guide.

Advertising

No specific statutory rules on gambling advertising were identified. Because no gambling is lawful, there is no regime for permitted advertising. The pending bill would criminalise operating a gambling establishment, including online. Whether its final text will also reach promoters, such as administrators of social media channels, will depend on the wording adopted by Parliament.

Position of players

The position of players is less clear than in most prohibition jurisdictions, and it is changing.

Current criminal law. On the reports reviewed, the Penal Code in force since July 2015 does not make taking part in gambling, online or offline, a criminal offence (Atoll Times, 10 December 2025; Sun, 5 January 2026). No source reviewed for this guide recorded a prosecution of a Maldivian resident for gambling online.
Religious and constitutional norms. Gambling is prohibited in Islam, which is the state religion, and Article 19 of the Constitution does not protect conduct prohibited by Islamic Shari’ah. The President’s Office release announcing the bill described upholding Islamic values as a key priority of the administration (President’s Office, 10 December 2025).
Practical consequences. Betting sites are blocked, and bank transfers to gambling platforms may be refused. Foreign workers found gambling have been arrested and deported (Raajje, 18 April 2026). Players also have no legal recourse in the Maldives against an unlicensed offshore operator that withholds winnings.
Under the proposed amendment. If enacted as presented, the bill would make gambling itself a fourth-degree offence. This would expose players, not only operators, to imprisonment (The Edition, 4 January 2026).

Readers should therefore treat gambling with online operators from the Maldives as unlawful in principle and possibly a criminal offence in the near future. The Penal Code reform should be checked before relying on any statement of the current position.

Tourists and resorts

The Maldives’ tourist economy is built on resort islands. No resort holds a gambling licence, because there is no licensing system, and the government said in 2019 that it did not plan to allow casinos (Sun, 10 July 2019). Visitors should not expect gaming tables or machines at resorts. The government presented the bill as targeting both gambling and the operation of gambling establishments, and press coverage described it as giving law enforcement clearer powers against both operators and participants (The Standard, 10 December 2025).

Taxation

Because no gambling is lawful, the Maldives has no gambling tax. The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) administers income tax, goods and services tax (GST), green tax, airport taxes, tourism land rent and several other levies and fees. None of them is a betting, gaming or lottery tax. There is no tax regime for operators’ gross gaming revenue (GGR), meaning stakes less prizes paid, and no specific rule on players’ winnings. Proceeds of unlawful activity cannot be regularised by paying tax, and receiving or moving such funds may raise money-laundering questions for banks.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

The usual consumer-protection tools are absent in the Maldives, as in other prohibition jurisdictions. There are no licensed operators to impose age checks, deposit limits or self-exclusion, there is no national self-exclusion register, and there is no ombudsman for gambling disputes. Prevention relies on blocking, on payment restrictions and on the proposed criminal sanctions.

No dedicated gambling-addiction helpline or treatment service was identified for this guide. The main public route to support is the National Mental Health Helpline (1677), run by the Ministry of Health’s National Mental Health Department. It is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day (President’s Office, National Mental Health Helpline). It was launched on 21 February 2024, received more than 13,000 calls in its first two years, and provides psychosocial support, psychological first aid and referrals. It is open to Maldivian citizens and to foreign nationals working in the country (PSM News, helpline report). People struggling with gambling-related debt or distress can use it as a first point of contact. General guidance on recognising and limiting gambling harm is available in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

July 2024: blocking begins. CAM began blocking online betting websites nationwide on police directives (Maldives Voice, 10 July 2024).
October 2024: reform announced. Attorney General Ahmed Usham said that the necessary amendments would be made to ban online betting and gambling (The Edition, 31 October 2024).
10 December 2025: bill submitted. President Mohamed Muizzu announced that a bill amending the Penal Code to criminalise gambling and the running of gambling establishments had been submitted to Parliament. He described strengthening religious unity and upholding Islamic values as a priority of his administration (President’s Office, 10 December 2025). Parliament was then in recess (Sun, 10 December 2025).
Content of the bill. The amendment was moved on the government’s behalf by Ahmed Azaan Marzooq, member for Hithadhoo Central (Sun, 4 January 2026). It would make gambling and operating a gambling establishment fourth-degree offences. According to The Edition, these carry a standard sentence of one year, seven months and six days, a minimum of four months and 24 days, and a maximum of four years (The Edition, 4 January 2026); some other outlets described one year, seven months and six days as the minimum sentence. Gambling is defined broadly, covering electronic means, gambling devices and bets on current or future events. Operating a gambling establishment expressly covers online platforms and businesses. Prize competitions held for entertainment or sport, free-entry prize draws and certain amusement devices are excluded.
5 January 2026: first reading. In an extraordinary sitting, the People’s Majlis accepted the bill with 50 votes in favour and sent it to committee for review (Sun, 5 January 2026). The debate also produced allegations, raised by MPs, about losses on a shipment at the company Maldive Gas (Atoll Times, 5 January 2026).
Status as at 13 October 2026. Searches of Maldivian news outlets and the President’s Office press releases found no report of the bill’s passage at committee stage, its final vote or its ratification by the President. Until ratification and publication, gambling remains outside the Penal Code, while blocking and payment measures continue.

Several points will matter once the amendment takes effect: whether the final text keeps criminal liability for players or limits it to organisers; whether promotion and advertising are covered; and how the police will gather evidence about online activity. These should be reviewed when the law is enacted.

Casino listings for players in the Maldives

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that any operator is licensed or authorised in the Maldives. The Maldives has no gambling licensing system and no register of lawful operators, betting websites are blocked by the Communications Authority of Maldives, and Parliament is considering a bill that would make gambling, including online gambling, a criminal offence. Offering online casino games to people in the Maldives is not permitted, and the listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful.

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Key points

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Historical development

Legal framework

The Constitution and Islamic law

The Penal Code 2014

Other relevant law

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling and enforcement

Website blocking

Payments

Advertising

Position of players

Tourists and resorts

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in the Maldives

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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