Legal casino gambling age in Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste regulates gambling through a single government decree-law dating from 2016, administered by a gaming inspectorate under the minister responsible for tourism. The framework covers lotteries, bingo, betting, slot machines and traditional games such as cockfighting, but expressly leaves casinos outside its scope. Between 2024 and 2025 the government experimented with licensing online gambling aimed at foreign customers. On 1 October 2025, citing risks to national security and the country’s international reputation, the Council of Ministers approved a resolution, presented by the Prime Minister, that revoked every online gambling and betting licence and barred new ones. Since then, police have carried out repeated raids on suspected online gambling and fraud centres, and by late 2026 hundreds of foreign nationals had been detained. This guide explains the legal framework, the regulator, the status of online gambling, the position of players, taxation and recent developments.
Key points
- Gambling is governed by Decree-Law No. 6/2016 of 20 April, which regulates social and entertainment games, slot machines and traditional games. Casinos are excluded from its scope.
- The Inspecção-Geral de Jogos (IGJ, General Gaming Inspectorate), set up in 2008, supervises gaming on behalf of the minister responsible for tourism, who grants authorisations and concessions.
- Government Resolution No. 54/2025 of 2 October revoked all online gambling and betting concessions, licences and authorisations, cancelled pending applications and prohibited new ones. No online gambling is currently licensed.
- Police raids in 2026 led to the detention of more than 500 foreign nationals suspected of illegal online gambling and fraud; in September 2026 the Prime Minister said the government had decided to deport suspects.
- No case was found of a Timorese resident being prosecuted for playing online. Enforcement has targeted the people running gambling and fraud operations.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.
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Historical development
Timor-Leste restored its independence in 2002, and its gambling legislation is relatively recent. Its earliest institution in the field was the Inspecção-Geral de Jogos. According to Government Decree No. 10/2008 of 11 June, published in the official gazette, the Jornal da República, the IGJ was created by Decree-Law No. 17/2008 of 4 June as part of the organic structure of the then Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry. Decree No. 10/2008 describes the IGJ as a service with technical and administrative autonomy. It oversees recreational and social games, games of chance, mutual betting and lotteries, as well as the venues where they take place. The same decree already assigned the inspectorate’s units the supervision of games played over the internet.
The first general gaming statute was Decree-Law No. 6/2009 of 15 January. It was repealed and replaced by Decree-Law No. 6/2016 of 20 April (article 74), which remains the core of the framework today. In 2019 the minister responsible for tourism issued Ministerial Diploma No. 57/2019, which set the rules for a tender for slot-machine concessions. The rules required bidders to be gaming companies with a large paid-up tourism investment.
Online gambling became a matter of policy debate in 2024. In an interview reported by the trade press in August 2024, President José Ramos-Horta said he was not interested in developing physical casinos and did not want Timorese citizens to suffer gambling losses, but that if foreigners wanted to play online and Timor-Leste offered online gambling, that would be acceptable (SiGMA, August 2024). In April 2025 trade media reported that the government had granted its first national licence for offshore gaming, under a contract signed by the Vice Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, with the licensee to be supervised by the IGJ (SiGMA, April 2025). That experiment ended within six months, as described below.
Legal framework
Decree-Law No. 6/2016
The main statute is Decree-Law No. 6/2016 of 20 April, published in Jornal da República Series I, No. 15. Its full title is the Legal Regime for the Licensing, Operation and Control of Gaming and Amusement Activities, Gaming Machines and Traditional Games. A decree-law is legislation made by the government rather than by the National Parliament. The preamble lists three aims: raising state revenue, supporting tourism zones and traditional games, and reducing and punishing clandestine gambling.
Article 3 defines a game as an activity offering a chance to win goods, money or rights of economic value, based on probability, chance and luck, with or without some element of skill. The decree distinguishes three groups:
- social and entertainment games: bingo, lotteries, football pools (totobola), lotto-type draws, raffles, mutual (pool) betting, contests and “virtual games”, together with the sale of tickets through shops or street vendors;
- gaming machines: electronic, electric or mechanical devices that pay prizes and whose results depend mainly on luck; and
- traditional games: including cockfighting (futu manu) and the games known as kuru kuru and bola guling, which need an annual licence and approved venues.
Article 3 states that the operation of casinos is excluded from the decree’s scope. No separate casino statute was found in the official gazette, and no licensed casino in operation could be confirmed from official sources.
Article 13(3) is the provision most relevant to remote gambling. It requires IGJ authorisation, and payment of a fee set by ministerial order, for games and draws conducted through technological means, mobile telecommunications or other communication channels. Article 3 lists “virtual games” among social games without defining the term, and the decree contains no detailed regime for online casinos.
Sanctions under the decree
Breaches of the decree are mainly administrative offences (contra-ordenações), meaning they are punished by fines imposed by the administration rather than as crimes. Article 61 lists the offences, starting with the “operation or practice of unauthorised gaming”. Under article 63, fines range from US$1,000 to US$20,000 for the most serious group of offences and from US$500 to US$10,000 for the rest. Article 64 adds accessory sanctions, including seizure of equipment, suspension of operations for up to six months and permanent closure of unauthorised operations. The penalty for unauthorised gaming is increased by one third where children under 16 are found on the premises (article 66). Conduct that is already a crime under the criminal law remains subject to it.
Government Resolution No. 54/2025
The second key instrument is Government Resolution No. 54/2025 of 2 October, on the revocation of online gaming and betting licences, published in Jornal da República Series I, No. 40 A. Its preamble states that the 2016 decree-law does not reflect how online gaming and betting work and has not kept pace with technology. It also says the risks of crime, social instability and exploitation of vulnerable people outweigh the economic and social benefits. The resolution:
- revokes, with immediate effect, all concessions, licences and authorisations granted for online gaming and betting;
- cancels pending procedures for such concessions, licences and authorisations;
- provides that no new ones are to be granted;
- instructs the responsible ministry, together with the security forces, to oversee implementation; and
- orders a review of the gaming legislation, in particular Decree-Law No. 6/2016.
The Council of Ministers approved it on 1 October 2025 on a draft presented by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, who also signed it. It entered into force on the day after publication. The resolution cites the revocation grounds in article 15 of the decree-law and the provision on poor operation of gaming in article 58(d).
Regulator and licensing model
Timor-Leste uses a concession and authorisation model: the state grants a limited number of concessions or licences for specific games, rather than running a state monopoly or an open licensing market. Under articles 6 and 7 of Decree-Law No. 6/2016, the minister responsible for tourism oversees the sector and authorises operations after an opinion from the IGJ. Under article 8, the IGJ must give its opinion on applications within 15 days. It inspects, controls and audits operators on the minister’s behalf, supervises draws and conducts the administrative-offence proceedings.
The decree lists grounds for ending a licence. Article 15 provides that authorisations lapse on expiry or revocation, and allows revocation for concealing gaming revenue, failing to maintain guarantees, poor operation, repeated or serious breaches and late payment of fees or taxes. Article 58 allows concessions to be rescinded or suspended, and venues closed, by ministerial order. Opening criminal proceedings against a concessionaire suspends the concession immediately unless a court decides otherwise.
The only detailed licensing conditions found in the gazette concern gaming machines. Ministerial Diploma No. 57/2019 of 13 November provided for up to five slot-machine concessions. Bidders had to be commercial companies dedicated to gaming, with a minimum tourism investment of US$10 million and a permanent bank balance of at least US$1 million. They also had to lodge a deposit of US$5,000 per machine. The number of machines for each concession is set by the IGJ, and a concession may not be transferred without the minister’s express authorisation.
Casinos fall outside the decree, but the government has explored the idea of one. In February 2025 a Singapore-listed company reported cooperation agreements signed with the Vice Prime Minister and the tourism minister, one of which provided for an exclusive licence, with conditions, for a five-star hotel and casino, according to GGRAsia. The casino agreement could be terminated by either party on 30 days’ written notice. No licence or opening of a casino could be confirmed from official sources as of October 2026. The IGJ does not publish an online register of licensees, and no official count of the online licences revoked in 2025 was found.
Online gambling and enforcement
No form of online gambling is currently licensed in Timor-Leste. The Council of Ministers’ communiqué of 1 October 2025 recorded the approval of the resolution cancelling licences already granted for online gaming and betting, cancelling licensing procedures in progress and prohibiting new licences. It cited “identified risks to the country’s security, social stability, economic integrity, and international reputation”. Our news report on the nationwide end of online gambling licences covered the decision at the time.
The decision followed warnings from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In September 2025 it reported that criminal networks appeared to be targeting Timor-Leste, especially the Oecusse enclave, through foreign investment. According to Al Jazeera, UNODC said a police raid on a hotel in Oecusse in August 2025 produced SIM cards and satellite internet devices, and the Associated Press reported that 30 workers from Indonesia, Malaysia and China were arrested. A summary of the UNODC threat alert published by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission notes the alert’s findings. It reports that a domestically licensed gaming company was linked to a lottery-branded entity managing more than 50 suspicious gambling domains, and that casinos, junkets and online gambling were among the methods used to launder money and host scam centres.
Raids and deportations
Enforcement since the revocation has relied on police operations rather than on technical measures such as website or payment blocking. No official list of blocked gambling sites was found. Reported operations include:
- February 2026: 18 foreign nationals were detained at a rented house in Dili on suspicion of unlicensed online gambling, after an inspection by the Migration Service (RTP/Lusa, 21 February 2026). The same report states that the government had closed a gambling house in Dili the previous December over suspected illegal gambling.
- July 2026: in two operations on a single day, the National Police (PNTL) detained 90 foreign nationals in Dili and Liquiçá. Days earlier, about 200 people, mostly Chinese, Cambodian and Indonesian nationals, had been detained (Asia Gaming Brief, 14 July 2026). A separate case involving 27 defendants linked to a scam call centre was reported to be before the courts.
- Late July 2026: Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão announced “zero tolerance” for illegal online activity after more than 400 detentions (Observador/Lusa, 23 July 2026).
- August 2026: Lusa reported that police had detained more than 500 foreign nationals in recent months (Lusa, 27 August 2026).
- September 2026: the Prime Minister said the government had decided to deport the suspects and was coordinating with foreign embassies, adding that Timor-Leste would not pay for their return flights (RTP/Lusa, 11 September 2026). The number of people to be deported and the legal basis were not stated.
Most reports describe the suspected activity as a mix of illegal online gambling and online fraud, and the line between the two is not always drawn. The outcome of most of these cases had not been reported as of October 2026.
Position of players
Decree-Law No. 6/2016 does not contain a provision that clearly penalises individuals for playing. Article 61(a) makes the “operation or practice of unauthorised gaming” an administrative offence. The word “practice” could in principle reach participants, but article 56, which lists the persons responsible for offences, names concessionaires and operators, venue staff, unlicensed vendors and others rather than players as such; players could fall only under general categories such as people who disrupt games. Venues for social games must post a notice barring entry to people under 18 (article 46).
No reported case was found of a Timorese resident being fined or prosecuted for gambling with an offshore website. The arrests reported in 2025 and 2026 concerned foreign nationals suspected of running or working in gambling and fraud centres. Resolution No. 54/2025 addresses licences and does not create an offence for players. Because no online gambling is licensed, any online casino available in Timor-Leste is operating without local authorisation, and players have no local regulator to turn to in a dispute. The review of the gaming law ordered in 2025 could change the position, so readers should check the current rules.
Taxation
Decree-Law No. 6/2016 states that it does not itself regulate tax matters, including the tax on prizes. It subjects all gaming to the applicable prize-tax legislation (article 50). Article 51 sets the shares of net revenue to be collected for social purposes, prizes and the IGJ’s supervisory costs: 10% as tax on gaming prizes, and a social contribution of 15% of the concessionaire’s net revenue, or 25% for slot machines. Ministerial Diploma No. 57/2019 confirms that slot-machine concessionaires pay an annual tax to the tax administration plus 25% of net revenue for social purposes. The decree does not equate net revenue (receita líquida) with gross gaming revenue (GGR, stakes minus winnings paid out), and how it is calculated could not be confirmed.
For individuals, PwC’s worldwide tax summaries list a final withholding tax of 10% on “prizes and winnings”. The payer deducts it at source, and no further tax is due. No official guidance was found on how the tax administration treats winnings from foreign online gambling sites, which cannot withhold Timorese tax.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Player protection rules in Timor-Leste are limited. Decree-Law No. 6/2016 requires venues to display notices, including the ban on entry for people under 18. It also provides for public lottery draws in the presence of an IGJ inspector, and requires concessionaires to lodge guarantees and answer for prize payments that exceed them. No national self-exclusion register, statutory deposit or loss limits, or dedicated gambling helpline or treatment service could be found. The government’s public statements have focused on crime and national security rather than on gambling-related harm, although the 2025 resolution cites the exploitation of vulnerable people among its reasons.
The gambling sector is also relevant to anti-money laundering (AML) controls. The financial intelligence unit, the Unidade de Informação Financeira (UIF), sits within the Central Bank of Timor-Leste. It began operating in 2014 and works under Law No. 17/2011 on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, as amended. Timor-Leste joined the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in 2008. Its most recent mutual evaluation report, based on an on-site visit in September 2023 (Tatoli), was published in 2024. In June 2025 the APG held a planning visit with the authorities to address the report’s key deficiencies. Readers affected by gambling can find general guidance in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Licence revocation (October 2025). Resolution No. 54/2025 revoked all online gambling and betting licences and prohibited new ones. According to OCCRP, the licence revoked had been the first online licence the government issued, about six months earlier. Its holder said it had not conducted active gaming business in the country.
- Review of Decree-Law No. 6/2016. The resolution ordered a revision of the gaming legislation. As of October 2026 no draft replacement law had been published in the official gazette, and it remains unclear whether any future framework would allow online licensing again.
- ASEAN membership (October 2025). Timor-Leste became a full member of ASEAN in October 2025. UNODC had warned that membership could raise the cross-border risk from scam networks (Asia Gaming Brief).
- Anti-fraud plan and cybersecurity legislation (2026). In July 2026 the Council of Ministers approved a request to Parliament for legislative authorisation on cybercrime, criminal procedure and national cyberspace. If granted, it would allow rules on removing or blocking illegal content (Observador/Lusa). In early August 2026 the government approved an integrated plan against transnational networks involved in digital fraud, cybercrime and human trafficking, supervised by a centre reporting to the Prime Minister (Lusa, August 2026).
- Deportations (September 2026). The government announced that foreign suspects would be deported. Implementation should be checked against later reports.
Casino listings for players in Timor-Leste
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database and do not show that an operator is licensed in Timor-Leste. Since Government Resolution No. 54/2025, no online gambling or betting licences may be granted, and existing ones have been revoked. Offering online casino games to people in Timor-Leste is therefore not authorised, and the listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful or that any operator is approved by the Inspecção-Geral de Jogos.
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Sources and further reading
- Government of Timor-Leste, Jornal da República, Resolução do Governo n.º 54/2025, de 2 de Outubro: Cancelamento das licenças de exploração de jogos e apostas online (2025).
- Government of Timor-Leste, Jornal da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 6/2016, de 20 de Abril: Regime Jurídico do Licenciamento, Exploração e Controlo da Atividade dos Jogos e de Diversão, Máquinas de Jogo e Jogos Tradicionais (2016).
- Government of Timor-Leste, Jornal da República, Decreto do Governo n.º 10/2008, de 11 de Junho: Estrutura da Inspecção-Geral de Jogos (2008).
- Government of Timor-Leste, Jornal da República, Diploma Ministerial n.º 57/2019, de 13 de Novembro: concessions for gaming machines (2019).
- Government of Timor-Leste, Meeting of the Council of Ministers of 1 October 2025 (2025).
- Banco Central de Timor-Leste, Unidade de Informação Financeira (accessed 13 October 2026).
- FATF / Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, Timor-Leste’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing: Mutual Evaluation Report (2024).
- Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, Timor-Leste Strategic Implementation Planning (SIP) visit (2025).
- Tatoli, APG evaluates Timor-Leste’s efforts to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing (2023).
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, UNODC release Southeast Asia and the Pacific Organised Crime Threat Alert: Timor-Leste case study (2025).
- Al Jazeera, UN warns online scam centres hitting Southeast Asia moving to East Timor (2025).
- OCCRP, Why Timor-Leste is at risk of becoming a scammers’ paradise (2026).
- RTP / Lusa, Detidas 18 pessoas em Díli por suspeita de jogo ilegal online (2026).
- Observador / Lusa, Timor-Leste aplica tolerância zero ao crime online após detenção de mais de 400 estrangeiros (2026).
- Lusa (via AMAN Alliance), Lusa news digest (Dili, 27 August 2026) (2026).
- RTP / Lusa, Governo timorense prepara deportação de cidadãos suspeitos de atividades ilegais online (2026).
- Asia Gaming Brief, Timor-Leste crackdown snares 90 more in Dili and Liquiçá raids (2026).
- SiGMA News, Online gambling for foreigners fine, says East Timor president (2024).
- GGRAsia, Singapore-listed firm to raise US$100mln after agreements to set up a casino and bank in Timor-Leste (2025).
- SiGMA News, Timor-Leste grants first offshore gaming licence (2025).
- PwC, Timor-Leste: Corporate – Withholding taxes (accessed 13 October 2026).
