Legal casino gambling age in Pakistan
Pakistan follows a prohibition model. Gambling is a criminal offence under the Prevention of Gambling Act 1977, a statute descended from the colonial Public Gambling Act 1867, and the Constitution directs the state to prevent gambling as a matter of Islamic principle. No authority issues licences for casinos, sports betting or online gambling, and there is no gambling regulator. The main lawful products with a chance element are the government’s prize bonds. Online betting and casino sites are dealt with through blocking by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and criminal investigations by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which in 2024 and 2025 took over the cybercrime work previously done by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Key points
- The Prevention of Gambling Act 1977 (Act XXVIII of 1977) punishes keeping a common gaming-house and gaming in gaming-houses, public places and private places, with imprisonment of up to one to three years depending on the offence.
- Article 37(g) of the Constitution of Pakistan directs the state to “prevent prostitution, gambling and taking of injurious drugs”.
- There is no licensing route for casinos or online gambling. A 1977 exemption for licensed “tourist complexes” open only to foreigners was removed for Islamabad in 1987; no operating complex could be identified.
- The PTA blocks gambling sites under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA). The government told the National Assembly in August 2025 that 184 sites and apps had been blocked; by September 2025 the PTA cited 260.
- Since mid-2025 the NCCIA has brought cases against social media influencers for promoting betting apps, using PECA and section 294-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Last reviewed: 7 October 2026.
Online casinos for Pakistan
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Historical development
Pakistan’s gambling law originates in British India. The Public Gambling Act 1867 (Act No. 3 of 1867, enacted on 25 January 1867) punished the owners of “common gaming-houses” and people found gaming in them, and exempted “any game of mere skill wherever played”. The modern Pakistani statutes copy its structure: the definition of a common gaming-house, the offence of being found in one, magistrates’ powers of entry and search, and a presumption of gaming where instruments of gaming are found.
After independence the law was re-enacted at regional level. In 1961 separate Prevention of Gambling Ordinances were issued for West Pakistan, the Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan. Sindh amended its version in 1972 to allow the provincial government to license a “Tourist Complex”, defined as a building used for entertainment “and playing of various games for foreigners”, and exempted games played there (West Pakistan Prevention of Gambling (Sind Amendment) Act 1972). Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which has its own legislature, passed the Prevention of Gambling (Maisir) Act 1973. Maisir is the Quranic term for games of chance.
In 1977 these ordinances were replaced by a single federal statute, the Prevention of Gambling Act 1977, which repealed the four 1961 ordinances. It was passed while a proclamation of emergency under Article 280 of the Constitution was in force, as its preamble records. The Act carried over the foreigners-only tourist complex exemption, but in 1987 that exemption was omitted for the Islamabad Capital Territory by Act XIII of 1987.
The 1980s brought an Islamic review of the remaining exceptions. In June 1989 the Federal Shariat Court held that sections 294-A and 294-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, on lotteries and trade prize schemes, were partly repugnant to the injunctions of Islam because they did not separate lawful drawing of lots from gambling. The court also likened prize-bond prizes to interest and held them prohibited (Shaikh Mushtaq Ali v. Government of Pakistan, 15 June 1989). Prize bonds nonetheless remain on sale today; the later course of that case could not be verified from the sources consulted.
Legal framework
Constitutional and Islamic context
The Constitution of Pakistan establishes Islam as the state religion and contains “Principles of Policy” that guide, but do not directly bind, legislation. Article 31 commits the state to enabling Muslims to order their lives in accordance with Islam, and Article 37(g) directs it to “prevent prostitution, gambling and taking of injurious drugs”. The Federal Shariat Court can examine whether laws conform to Islamic injunctions, as it did in the 1989 lottery case.
The Prevention of Gambling Act 1977
The 1977 Act is the principal statute. Its key definitions are:
- Gaming “includes wagering or betting, including a wager or bet made in respect of any horse, mare or gelding running in competition with any other horse, mare or gelding, or of the rider thereof” (section 2(b)). Betting on horse races therefore falls within the definition.
- Common gaming-house means any house, room, tent, enclosure, vehicle, vessel or other place where instruments of gaming are kept or used for profit, or where gaming takes place on figures, numbers or dates to be ascertained later or on natural events (section 2(a)).
- Instruments of gaming are any articles used or intended to be used to carry on or facilitate gaming (section 2(c)).
The offences and maximum penalties are:
| Section | Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Owning, keeping or managing a common gaming-house | Imprisonment of one month to one year, a fine of Rs100 to Rs1,000, or both |
| 4 | Being found gaming in a common gaming-house | Up to one year, a fine of up to Rs5,000, or both |
| 5 | Gaming in a public place or street | Up to one year, a fine of up to Rs500, or both |
| 6 | Gaming in a private place | Up to two years, a fine of up to Rs1,000, or both |
| 7 | Subsequent offences | Up to three years, a fine of up to Rs2,000, or both |
Magistrates may authorise entry by force, search and seizure of instruments of gaming and money (section 8). Finding instruments of gaming creates a rebuttable presumption that the place is a gaming-house and that those present were gaming (section 9). Section 11 exempts games in a tourist complex licensed by a provincial government “to which only foreigners are admitted”, except in Islamabad. Unlike the 1867 Act, the summary of the 1977 text consulted for this guide contains no general exemption for games of skill, and no express exemption for betting on horse races.
The Pakistan Penal Code
The Pakistan Penal Code 1860 contains two related offences. Section 294-A deals with keeping a lottery office, while allowing lotteries authorised by the state. Section 294-B punishes anyone who “offers or undertakes to offer, in connection with any trade or business or sale of any commodity, any prize, reward or other similar consideration”, with imprisonment for up to six months, a fine, or both, according to the text quoted in a 2012 consumer court decision (Fida Hussain v. Ch. Shahid Mehmood). Section 294-B has become the main Penal Code provision used against the promotion of online betting apps, usually together with section 420 (cheating).
The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016
PECA is Pakistan’s cybercrime law. It gives the PTA power to “remove or block or issue directions for removal or blocking of access to an information through any information system” if it considers this necessary in the interest of “the glory of Islam”, security, “public order, decency or morality”, or in relation to “commission of or incitement to an offence under this Act” (Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill as passed by the National Assembly, 2016). Section numbers in the enacted Act differ from the bill; its official text could not be retrieved. According to case reports, the Act creates offences of electronic forgery and fraud (sections 13 and 14) and spamming and spoofing (sections 25 and 26), which investigators have combined with section 294-B in betting-app cases.
Provincial and regional law
The Wikipedia overview of gambling in Pakistan records provincial versions of the gambling law from 1978. The consolidated provincial texts currently in force could not be verified for this guide. Azad Jammu and Kashmir applies its 1973 Maisir Act, which defines gaming to include “any game of cards in which players win or lose money” and provides for rigorous imprisonment of up to two years for gaming in public or private places and up to three years for repeat offences (AJK Maisir Act 1973).
Regulator and licensing model
Pakistan has no gambling regulator and no licensing system for gambling operators. Under a prohibition model, the law treats gambling as a crime rather than as an activity to be licensed and supervised. Enforcement is shared between several bodies:
- Provincial police enforce the 1977 Act against land-based gambling, for example raids on card games, illegal horse and cart races and betting dens.
- The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority blocks websites and apps on complaints received through an online portal open to 51 government and law enforcement stakeholders (The News, 7 August 2025).
- The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency investigates online offences. According to a Wikipedia overview, it was established under section 51 of PECA by a notification of 3 May 2024 to take over the FIA’s Cybercrime Wing, including its cases; Digital Rights Monitor instead dates it to April 2025. Its functions rules were notified on 13 August 2025 (Digital Rights Monitor, 29 August 2025).
The only statutory route to a gambling licence in the 1977 Act is the tourist complex exemption in section 11, which depends on a provincial licence and admits only foreigners. No currently operating licensed tourist complex or casino could be identified from the sources consulted.
Horse racing and prize bonds
Horse racing has a long history in Pakistan. The Lahore Race Club was incorporated on 18 January 1924, moved to a new course at Kot Lakhpat in 1981 and organises the Pakistan Derby. The 1977 Act expressly includes bets on horse races within “gaming”. A trade publication, iGaming Today, states that totalisator (“tote”) betting on horse racing was legalised in 1979, but the legal instrument could not be verified for this guide and readers should treat the point as unconfirmed. Illegal racing is policed: in June 2025 police in Lahore’s Shahdara area were reported to have made 1,619 arrests and registered 413 cases after a raid on betting at a horse-cart race (CasinoBeats, 3 June 2025).
Prize bonds are government savings instruments sold by the Central Directorate of National Savings. Instead of paying interest, ordinary bonds are entered in regular prize draws. Bearer bonds are issued in denominations of Rs100, Rs200, Rs750 and Rs1,500 (National Savings, Prize Bonds). Registered Premium Prize Bonds of Rs25,000 and Rs40,000 are available to adult Pakistani citizens and overseas Pakistanis and combine quarterly prize draws with twice-yearly profit payments, with top prizes of Rs30 million and Rs80 million respectively (National Savings, Premium Prize Bonds). As noted above, the Federal Shariat Court in 1989 considered prize bonds repugnant to Islamic injunctions, but they remain on sale.
Online gambling and enforcement
No form of online gambling can be licensed in Pakistan. Because the 1977 Act was drafted around physical “gaming-houses”, online gambling is addressed mainly through PECA and the Pakistan Penal Code. Enforcement has three strands.
Blocking
Blocking means directing internet service providers to prevent access to a website or app. On 7 August 2025 the Cabinet Division told the National Assembly that the PTA had blocked 184 betting and gambling websites and apps after complaints from the FIA, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and members of the public. It added that action against individuals was “beyond the mandate of PTA” and that investigations are referred to law enforcement (The News, 7 August 2025). By September 2025 the PTA put the number of blocked betting sites and apps at 260, while acknowledging that platforms banned in 2024 had resurfaced and that many of the platforms involved operate from outside Pakistan (The News, 20 September 2025).
Advertising and sponsorship
The government has advised the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the PTA and the Pakistan Cricket Board not to enter contracts with “surrogate” betting companies, meaning brands that promote betting through apparently unrelated products such as news or sports sites (The News, 7 August 2025). According to The News, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a “Zero Tolerance for Surrogate Betting Companies” notification in 2024, and the state broadcaster’s sports channel was suspended for airing a betting company logo.
Criminal investigations
An investigation into YouTubers and social media influencers promoting betting apps began in June 2025. On 17 August 2025 the NCCIA arrested the YouTuber Saad ur Rehman, known as Ducky Bhai, at Lahore airport. The case was registered under sections 13, 14, 25 and 26 of PECA and sections 294-B and 420 of the Penal Code, and the first information report (FIR) listed 27 videos promoting betting and trading apps (Dawn Images, 17 August 2025). On 24 November 2025 the Lahore High Court granted him bail against surety bonds of Rs1 million; separately, nine NCCIA officials were accused in October 2025 of taking bribes in connection with the case (Daily Times, 24 November 2025). No verdict had been reported in the sources consulted.
The investigation widened during 2025. On 21 August 2025 the NCCIA published a list of 46 illegal apps and websites covering betting and gambling, unregulated forex trading and data-leak tools, warning that “promoting or using these apps can lead to prosecution under Pakistani cyber laws” (Digital Rights Foundation, 21 August 2025). On 13 September 2025 the NCCIA arrested a man in Lahore said to have managed digital accounts linked to the case, under the same PECA sections and sections 294-B, 420 and 109 (abetment) of the Penal Code (Associated Press of Pakistan, 13 September 2025). By late September 2025 special teams had been formed to arrest several further YouTubers (Daily Pakistan, 29 September 2025).
Cricket betting and match-fixing
Illegal betting on cricket has led to the best-known corruption cases involving Pakistani players. In the 2010 Lord’s Test, captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir arranged deliberate no-balls for a bookmaker. The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned them in February 2011, and in November 2011 Southwark Crown Court in London convicted them of conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and jailed them (2010 spot-fixing case overview). In the 2017 Pakistan Super League case, a Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal banned Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif for five years each and Nasir Jamshed, after an initial one-year ban, for ten years; Jamshed was later sentenced in the United Kingdom to 17 months’ imprisonment, announced in February 2020 (2017 PSL case overview). These prosecutions took place in England, where betting is lawful but cheating is a crime; no comparable Pakistani criminal conviction was found in the sources consulted.
Position of players
Unlike some prohibition jurisdictions, Pakistan criminalises the player as well as the organiser of land-based gambling. Under the 1977 Act, a person found gaming in a common gaming-house faces up to one year’s imprisonment, a fine of up to Rs5,000, or both, and gaming in a public or private place is also an offence (sections 4 to 6). These provisions are enforced: Bahawalpur police reported 312 arrests of gamblers and 50 gambling cases over six months in 2024 (GamblingNews, 27 September 2024).
The position of someone who bets online with a foreign operator is less clear. No statute consulted contains an offence aimed specifically at playing on an online gambling site, and it is unsettled how far the gaming-house provisions of the 1977 Act apply to online play. The NCCIA has warned that “using” listed apps can lead to prosecution, but every reported online case found for this guide was against promoters, agents or account managers rather than individual players. Because no operator can be licensed, there is also no regulator to which players could complain about an online gambling site.
Taxation
Because gambling cannot be licensed, Pakistan has no gambling duty or tax on operators’ gross gaming revenue (GGR, stakes minus winnings paid). The main taxed prizes are prize bond winnings. National Savings states that withholding tax is deducted at 15% of the prize value for “filers” (people on the Federal Board of Revenue’s active taxpayer list) and 30% for non-filers (National Savings, Prize Bonds). Premium Prize Bonds are exempt from zakat, the Islamic wealth levy, but withholding tax applies to their prizes (National Savings, Premium Prize Bonds). Readers with questions about other prizes should consult the Federal Board of Revenue.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Pakistan has no national self-exclusion scheme, no operator duties of care and no gambling-specific helpline, because the law provides no lawful gambling market to which such measures could attach. Protection relies on prohibition, blocking and prosecution. People affected by gambling can seek general mental health support; Umang describes itself as Pakistan’s first round-the-clock mental health helpline staffed by clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, although its website does not mention gambling specifically. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Influencer prosecutions (2025 to 2026). The Ducky Bhai case, opened in August 2025, was continuing after bail was granted on 24 November 2025; no trial outcome had been reported in the sources consulted.
- NCCIA takes over cybercrime (2024 to 2025). Sources date the agency to May 2024 or April 2025; its functions rules were notified on 13 August 2025.
- Blocking figures (2025). PTA blocks rose from 184 sites and apps (August 2025) to 260 (September 2025), with the PTA acknowledging that blocked platforms reappear under new addresses.
- No reform bill identified. No bill to legalise or license gambling was found before Parliament as of October 2026. Trade press reports of a possible “filter and fine” approach (iGaming Today, updated April 2026) could not be verified against government sources.
Casino listings for players in Pakistan
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in Pakistan: no authority licenses online casinos, gambling is prohibited under the Prevention of Gambling Act 1977, and the PTA blocks gambling sites. The listings must not be read as an indication that offering or playing online casino games in Pakistan is lawful.
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Sources and further reading
- Ministry of Law (via Khalid Zafar & Associates), Prevention of Gambling Act, 1977 (Act XXVIII of 1977) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Government of Sindh, Sindh Laws, West Pakistan Prevention of Gambling (Sind Amendment) Act, 1972 (Sindh Act XXIII of 1972) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Law Department, Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Gambling (Maisir) Act, 1973 (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Government of India, India Code, The Public Gambling Act, 1867 (Act No. 3 of 1867) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Pakistani.org, Constitution of Pakistan, Part II, Chapter 2: Principles of Policy (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Federal Shariat Court, Shaikh Mushtaq Ali v. Government of Pakistan, Shariat Petition No. 5/K of 1984 (1989) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- National Assembly of Pakistan, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill, 2016 (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Pakistan Case Law, Fida Hussain v. Ch. Shahid Mehmood, District Consumer Court (2012) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- The News, PTA blocked 184 websites/apps, NA told (7 August 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- The News, PTA says taking steps against resurfacing betting platforms (20 September 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Wikipedia, National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Digital Rights Monitor, What NCCIA’s new rules tell us about the investigating agency (29 August 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Dawn Images, YouTuber Ducky Bhai arrested over promotion of gambling apps (17 August 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Daily Times, LHC grants Ducky Bhai bail in gambling app promotion case (24 November 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Digital Rights Foundation, NCCIA releases list of 46 illegal apps and websites in Pakistan (21 August 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Associated Press of Pakistan, NCCIA arrests suspect in online gambling case (13 September 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Daily Pakistan, Iqra Kanwal, Rajab Butt among several YouTubers facing arrest in betting app case (29 September 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Central Directorate of National Savings, Prize Bonds (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Central Directorate of National Savings, Premium Prize Bonds (Registered) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Wikipedia, Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Wikipedia, 2017 Pakistan Super League spot-fixing scandal (accessed 7 October 2026).
- CasinoBeats, Pakistan law enforcement arrests over 1,600 for illegal gambling (3 June 2025) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- GamblingNews, Bahawalpur police arrest 13,000 offenders, including 312 gamblers (27 September 2024) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Wikipedia, Gambling in Pakistan (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Wikipedia, Lahore Race Club (accessed 7 October 2026).
- iGaming Today, Gambling regulation in Pakistan (updated April 2026) (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Umang, Mental health helpline (accessed 7 October 2026).
