Mauritius targets gambling overhaul with hotel casino licence repeal and tighter digital controls
Mauritius is set to abolish hotel casino licences and tighten oversight of both land-based and digital gambling under a wide-ranging package of reforms proposed in the country’s 2026/27 Budget. While gambling received no mention during Prime Minister and Finance Minister Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam‘s Budget Speech on 19 June, Section 44 of the accompanying Budget Annex introduces amendments to the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act that covers licensing, taxation, digital gaming and regulatory oversight.
One of the most significant changes is the planned abolition of the hotel casino licence. The government proposes removing the legal definitions of “hotel casino“, “hotel casino games“, “hotel casino gaming machine” and “hotel casino operator“, and repeal the legislative provisions governing their licensing and operation. The move would effectively eliminate hotel casinos as a standalone licensing category.
At the same time, Mauritius is looking to build on its emerging digital gaming framework. The Budget introduces a formal legal definition of “digital games” and would allow existing casino operators, gaming house operators and limited payout machine operators to enter the market. However, the expansion comes with stricter safeguards. Operators would first need to submit certified game rules to the Gambling Regulatory Board for approval, and every digital gaming platform would require certification from an accredited independent gaming laboratory before launch.
Under the proposals, betting operators would be required to connect both their servers and betting terminals to the Gambling Regulatory Authority’s server. Casinos and Gaming Houses would face an additional requirement, with their servers linked directly to the Mauritius Revenue Authority‘s Central Electronic Monitoring System (CEMS). Operators would also be responsible for ensuring the connection remains active at all times to give regulators continuous visibility over gambling activity for compliance and tax monitoring.
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In horse racing, the government plans to establish a Horse Racing Fund to finance laboratory testing of blood and urine samples, local race image recording and insurance cover for apprentice jockeys. Horse racing organisers would also be required to submit quarterly reports to the Gambling Regulatory Authority and only licensed broadcasters would be permitted to cover live races during race meetings.
Bookmakers also stand to see several changes. The Gambling Regulatory Board would gain the power to approve fixed-odds and pool betting through remote communication on approved events held outside Mauritius. The reforms would also allow bookmakers to offer fixed-odds betting on foreign horse racing outside the domestic racing season, subject to payment of a licence fee.
Meanwhile, retail operators could benefit from greater flexibility, with bookmakers permitted to increase the number of betting terminals at approved premises from three to five, provided one terminal is reserved exclusively for customer payouts.
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Maximum penalties for breaches of Gambling Regulatory Authority rules would increase from Rs200,000 to Rs400,000, and the annual licence fee for limited payout machine operators would more than triple from Rs30,000 to Rs100,000. A new Rs50,000 licence fee would apply to every limited payout machine outlet, alongside new processing fees for gambling licence applications and relocation requests. The licence fee for bookmakers conducting fixed-odds betting through remote communication would also rise from Rs50,000 to Rs75,000, and the maximum penalty for breaching confidentiality provisions would increase twentyfold, from Rs5,000 to Rs100,000.
