In forceUpdated to 21 Sep 2026

Contents

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

6. Meanings of “conducting a betting operation” and associated expressions

(1)

For the purposes of this Act, a person is conducting a betting operation if the person, whether or not or through an agent and whether alone or with others, and whether by remote communication or otherwise —

(a)

undertakes any of the following activities:

(i)

accept or receive bets; (ii)pay, negotiate or settle bets; (iii)operate a betting exchange or betting information centre; (iv)operate a totalisator;

(v)

organise pool betting;

(vi)

match gamblers;

(vii)

lay or offer odds;

(viii)

offer an opportunity to or otherwise facilitate others to bet in accordance with arrangements made by the person;

(b)

organises, manages or supervises any activity described in paragraph (a);

(c)

distributes the turnover of any activity described in paragraph (a) or (b) (for example, by paying prizes, meeting costs, or making grants) in accordance with arrangements made by the person; (d)authorises the carrying on of any activity described in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) by a contractor or an employee or agent of the person; or

(e)

assists in an activity described in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) or any combination of those activities.

(2)

Without affecting subsection (1), a person is also regarded as conducting a betting operation if the person engages in any conduct on behalf of, or in accordance with arrangements made by, another, for or in connection with any activity mentioned in subsection (1).

(3)

A reference in any provision of this Act to a bet made with, or received by, a betting operator includes a reference to a bet made with the betting operator —

(a)

through an agent; (b)wholly or partly by means of remote communication; or

(c)

partly inside and partly outside Singapore.

(4)

Also, a reference in any provision of this Act to a bet made with, or received by, a betting operator includes, for a betting operator who operates a betting exchange, a reference to a bet made through the betting operator using the betting exchange.

(5)

However, despite subsections (1) and (2), a person is not to be treated as assisting in an activity in subsection (1), or engaging in any conduct on behalf of or in accordance with arrangements made by another as mentioned in subsection (2), merely because —

(a)

the person supplies, installs or repairs, in the course of business, any gambling article, and even though the person knows or ought reasonably to have known that the gambling article is intended to be used or is used for or in connection with an activity described in subsection (1);

(b)

the person —

(i)

is a provider of —

(A)

an internet access service; (B)a telecommunication service; or

(C)

a relevant electronic service other than a service that enables end‑users to play online games with other end‑users; and

(ii)

makes available, in the course of business of providing a service mentioned in sub‑paragraph (i), information or material produced entirely by another person —

(A)

without altering the information or material; or

(B)

only altering the information or material to the extent to fit time, space or format constraints; or

(c)

the person publishes a gambling advertisement in Singapore or sends an inducement to gamble to anyone.

(6)

For the purpose of any provision of this Act —

“betting exchange” means a facility, electronic or otherwise, that enables persons —

(a)

to place or accept, through the operator of the facility, bets with other persons; or (b)to place with the operator of the facility bets that, on acceptance, are matched with opposing bets placed with and accepted by the operator, but does not include a facility (electronic or otherwise) that enables persons to place bets only with a bookmaker or a totalisator;

“betting information centre” means any place kept or used for receiving or communicating any information or material relating to any race, competition, sporting event or other event or process for the purpose of betting;

“bookmaker” means a person who, on the person’s own account or as an employee or agent for another person, carries out bookmaking or holds out in any manner as a person who carries out bookmaking;

“bookmaking” means running a business or making, or endeavouring to derive, an income, totally or partly, from any of the following activities:

(a)

accepting or receiving bets;

(b)

paying, negotiating or settling bets;

(c)

laying or offering odds; (d)inviting others to bet in accordance with arrangements made by the person,but does not include social gambling, casino gambling and operating a totalisator;

“pool betting” means betting made on terms that all or part of the winnings —

(a)

must be determined by reference to the aggregate of stakes paid or agreed to be paid by the persons betting;

(b)

must be divided among the winners; or

(c)

must or may be something other than money.

Terms defined in 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
casino gambling
Defined · s 3
“casino gambling” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Casino Control Act 2006;
Open s 3
conducting a betting operation
Defined · s 3
“conducting a betting operation” has the meaning given by section 6;
Open s 3
contractor
Defined · s 3
“contractor”, in relation to any person, means —(a)a person engaged by another person (P) otherwise than under a contract of service to engage in any conduct; or (b)a direct or an indirect subcontractor engaged by a contractor mentioned in paragraph (a) when the subcontractor is working under the direct or indirect direction of P as to the manner in which the work is carried out;
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 article
Defined · s 3
“gambling article” means —(a)any machine, apparatus, appliance, equipment, instrument, communication device or other device, accessory or any other thing (whether or not of a similar kind), that —(i)is used, apparently used, likely to be used or capable of being used in conducting, or in connection with conducting, a betting operation, gaming or a lottery; or(ii)is evidence of, or signifies participation in, gambling or a right to participate in gambling that is not social gambling; or(b)any list, card, ticket, voucher, accounts or other document that —(i)is used, apparently used, likely to be used or capable of being used, in conducting, or in connection with conducting, a betting operation, gaming or a lottery; or(ii)is evidence of, or signifies participation in, gambling or a right to participate in gambling that is not social gambling,whether or not it is ordinarily used for some other purpose;
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
internet access service
Defined · s 3
“internet access service” means a telecommunication service between a point in Singapore and another point in Singapore or between 2 points, one of which is in Singapore, that —(a)enables end‑users to access information or material on the Internet using that service; or (b)delivers information or material to persons having equipment appropriate for receiving that information or material on the Internet, where the delivery of the service is by a telecommunication service described in paragraph (a), but excludes a relevant electronic service, a social media service and any other telecommunication service excluded by the Regulations;
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
relevant electronic service
Defined · s 3
“relevant electronic service” means any of the following electronic services that is supplied to the public:(a)an electronic service that enables end‑users to communicate, by means of email, with other end‑users; (b)an online instant messaging service that enables end‑users to communicate with other end‑users;(c)a service that enables end‑users to play online games with other end‑users;(d)a service that specialises in providing links or facilitating access to, or information or material about, online locations, such as (but not limited to) a search engine, directory service or web browser; (e)an electronic service which allows a person to transmit material to more than one end‑user simultaneously, also called a point‑to‑multipoint service;
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
social gambling
Defined · s 3
“social gambling” has the meaning given by section 12(1);
Open s 3
sporting event
Defined · s 3
“sporting event” means a sport or competition, or an exhibition, entertainment or activity, involving primarily the exercise of physical prowess or dexterity, physical strength, physical stamina or mental stamina and to the extent that —(a)human beings are the only contestants or participants who take part in or play the sport, competition, exhibition, entertainment or activity; or(b)it is a sport or competition, or an exhibition, entertainment or activity in which human beings take part in —(i)by riding animals or exercise of other skill in relation to animals;(ii)by driving, piloting, crewing any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other form of transport;(iii)by competing with natural obstacles or natural forces, or by overcoming them; or(iv)by using a computer on a computer monitor, television screen, mobile device or similar medium with electronically recorded data installed in to support an interactive computer game or computer‑generated images,and includes a match, a series of matches, a race, a series of races, a time trial, a qualification session, a tournament and a round, but does not include the following:(c)any game of chance; (d)any fitness activity or recreational activity that is not organised in the course of any business;
Open s 3
telecommunication service
Defined · s 3
“telecommunication service” has the meaning given by the Telecommunications Act 1999;
Open s 3
totalisator
Defined · s 3
“totalisator” has the meaning given by section 5(9);
Open s 3

Read on from s 7

Part 2

Offences

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Part 3

Presumptions and Evidence

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Part 4

Licensing

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Part 5

Gambling Venue and Games Approval

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Part 6

Harm Minimisation and Integrity Protection Measures

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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

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Part 13

Repeals, Amendments to Other Acts and Final Provisions

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Schedules

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