In forceUpdated to 21 Sep 2026

Contents

Gambling Control Act 2022 · Updated to 21 Sep 2026 · Part 1 · Preliminary

16. Meanings of “gambling advertisement”, “inducement to gamble” and “publish in Singapore”

(1)

For the purpose of any provision of this Act —

“gambling advertisement” means any information or material that gives publicity to, or otherwise promotes or is intended to promote —

(a)

a particular gambling service;

(b)

gambling services in general;

(c)

the whole or part of a trade mark relating to a gambling service;

(d)

a domain name or URL of a particular gambling service, betting operation, game of chance or lottery; and

(e)

any words that are closely associated with a particular gambling service, betting operation, game of chance or lottery (whether also closely associated with other kinds of services or products);

“inducement to gamble” means any document or message containing information or material that —

(a)

contains —

(i)

any offer or giving of a credit, voucher, reward or other benefit to gamble;

(ii)

the making of any offer designed to induce persons to participate, or to increase their participation, in gambling; or

(iii)

any offer of an opportunity to gamble, or the offer of a condition or other aspect of any gambling, that includes additional benefits or enhancements connected with that gambling; or

(b)

invites, or may reasonably be implied to invite, the person receiving it —

(i)

to engage in any form of gambling; or

(ii)

to apply to any person, or at any place, with a view to obtaining information or material or advice for the purpose of any gambling or for information or material as to any event in relation to which gambling is generally conducted.

(2)

For the purposes of any provision of this Act, a gambling advertisement is published in Singapore if the gambling advertisement —

(a)

is displayed in a newspaper, magazine, leaflet, ticket or other document that is available, or distributed, to the public;

(b)

is contained in a film, video, television programme or radio programme that is, or is intended to be, seen or heard by the public;

(c)

is displayed or exhibited, or is displayed or exhibited on something that contains the advertisement, in a manner so that it can be seen or heard in or from a public place in Singapore, or any conveyance in Singapore, or any workplace in Singapore; or

(d)

is made known to the public in any other manner or by any other means.

(3)

Without limiting subsection (2), where a gambling advertisement is made available, distributed or communicated in electronic or digital form, the gambling advertisement is to be taken to be published in Singapore if —

(a)

the advertisement originates in Singapore, even if none of the persons capable of having access to the advertisement is physically present in Singapore; or

(b)

for an advertisement which did not originate in Singapore, or the origin of which cannot be determined, all of the following apply:

(i)

the advertisement is made available, displayed, distributed or communicated or caused to be made available, displayed, distributed or communicated to the public by a Singapore‑connected person or the Singapore‑connected person takes part in that making available, display, distribution or communication of that advertisement to the public; (ii)the advertisement is accessible by persons physically present in Singapore.

(4)

However, none of the following, of itself, amounts to publishing a gambling advertisement or sending an inducement to gamble:

(a)

the sending of information or material that is or includes a gambling advertisement to a group of people all of whom are involved in the provision of gambling services;

(b)

the publication of the name of a person providing a gambling service in a telephone directory unless —

(i)

the publication is on the Internet; and

(ii)

the entry for the person contains a link to an online location for the person to conduct a betting operation, game of chance or lottery using remote communication; (c)an index of online search results which links or refers an end‑user in Singapore to betting operations, games of chance, lotteries or gambling or facilities for the access or use of betting operations, games of chance or lotteries, which is made available to that person only because that person initiates a search through an online information location service such as a search engine service;

(d)

the display or exhibition of any words or symbols that appear in or on any approved gambling venue occupied by a licensee or an agent of a licensee;

(e)

the publishing of an advertisement relating to the internal management of the business of a licensee that does not promote a particular gambling service, such as an advertisement to recruit staff or calling for tenders for works; (f)the communication of any information or material that, if not for subsection (1), would be a gambling advertisement and it is apparent from the contents of the information and material that its sole or principal purpose is to discourage the use of gambling services or particular kinds of gambling services; (g)any other activity specified or described by the Minister in an order in the Gazette.

(5)

In this section, “Singapore‑connected person” means any of the following:

(a)

a citizen of Singapore;

(b)

a Singapore permanent resident; (c)a person physically present in Singapore;

(d)

an entity which is registered in Singapore (even if incorporated outside Singapore), or is incorporated, under any written law; (e)a corporation sole or corporation aggregate established under a private Act.

Terms defined in s 3

approved gambling venue
Defined · s 3
“approved gambling venue”, for a licensee, means any place or premises approved under section 64 as an approved gambling venue for the licensee to use in connection with providing a gambling service authorised by the licence thereof;
Open s 3
business
Defined · s 3
“business” includes —(a)a venture or concern in trade or commerce, whether or not conducted on a regular, repetitive or continuous basis; and(b)any business, whether or not carried on for profit,and the fact that an unincorporated association provides services to its members does not prevent those services from being services provided in the course of business;
Open s 3
conveyance
Defined · s 3
“conveyance” means any aircraft, train, vehicle, vessel or other mode of transport, whether of passengers or goods or both;
Open s 3
corporation
Defined · s 3
“corporation” means a body corporate formed or incorporated or existing in or outside Singapore, and includes any foreign company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1967;
Open s 3
credit
Defined · s 3
“credit” includes any form of financial accommodation;
Open s 3
document
Defined · s 3
“document” means any thing in which information or material of any description is recorded;
Open s 3
entity
Defined · s 3
“entity” means —(a)a body corporate (including a limited liability partnership); (b)an unincorporated association;(c)a partnership;(d)a body of individuals who together form a body; or(e)a person other than an individual;
Open s 3
event
Defined · s 3
“event” includes a contingency relating to an event;
Open s 3
gambling
Defined · s 3
“gambling” has the meaning given by section 4;
Open s 3
gambling service
Defined · s 3
“gambling service” means any of the following services, including such a service provided through a gambling service agent:(a)a service comprising wholly or in part of —(i)the placing, making, receiving, accepting or negotiating of bets;(ii)operating a betting exchange or betting information centre; (iii)operating a totalisator;(iv)organising pool betting;(v)matching gamblers; (vi)laying or offering odds; or(vii)offering an opportunity to or otherwise facilitating others to bet in accordance with arrangements made by the service provider;(b)a service for the conduct of a lottery; (c)a service for the supply of lottery tickets; (d)a service —(i)for others to play a game of chance; or (ii)offering an opportunity to or otherwise facilitating others to play a game of chance, for a prize in accordance with arrangements made by the service provider;(e)a service of controlling or operating a computer server —(i)in Singapore that enables any game of chance to be played by others in Singapore or elsewhere by remote communication for a prize; or(ii)in Singapore or elsewhere that enables any game of chance to be played by others in Singapore by remote communication for a prize;(f)a service of making available to others any gaming machine for the purpose of gambling;
Open s 3
information or material
Defined · s 3
“information or material” means information or material in any form, such as (but not limited to) —(a)oral, audible, written, electronic or digital form; (b)words or symbols, or visual, pictorial or graphic form (for example, an anthropomorphic or a humanlike depiction), and whether still or moving; and(c)3 or 2 dimensional form,and includes information or material in any combination of forms;
Open s 3
licensee
Defined · s 3
“licensee” means a person to whom a licence is granted under this Act but does not include a class licensee;
Open s 3
lottery
Defined · s 3
“lottery” has the meaning given by section 9;
Open s 3
place
Defined · s 3
“place” includes any premises and any conveyance, and any part of any premises or conveyance;
Open s 3
provision of this Act
Defined · s 3
“provision of this Act” includes a provision of any Regulations;
Open s 3
public
Defined · s 3
“public” includes a section of the public;
Open s 3
public place
Defined · s 3
“public place” means any place to which the public has access as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission, whether or not on payment of a fee and whether or not access to the place may be restricted at particular times or for a particular purpose, and includes any place in which an individual is at work unless that is the individual’s home;
Open s 3
remote communication
Defined · s 3
“remote communication” means communication through —(a)the Internet;(b)the telephone or other communication device;(c)the television or radio; or(d)any other kind of electronic or other technology for facilitating communication,but excludes any specific system or method of communication that the Minister, by order in the Gazette, declares not to be treated as remote communication for the purposes of this Act;
Open s 3
Singapore permanent resident
Defined · s 3
“Singapore permanent resident” means a permanent resident of Singapore as defined by section 2 of the Immigration Act 1959;
Open s 3
words
Defined · s 3
“words” includes abbreviations, initials and numbers.
Open s 3

Read on from s 17

Part 2

Offences

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Part 3

Presumptions and Evidence

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Part 4

Licensing

Read on from Part 4

Part 5

Gambling Venue and Games Approval

Read on from Part 5

Part 6

Harm Minimisation and Integrity Protection Measures

Read on from Part 6

Part 7

Regulatory Sanctions

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Part 8

Reconsideration and Appeals

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Part 9

Enforcement

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Part 10

Administration

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Part 11

Miscellaneous

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Part 12

Amendments to Casino Control Act 2006

Read on from Part 12

Part 13

Repeals, Amendments to Other Acts and Final Provisions

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Schedules

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