Mongolia bans online gambling

Various laws have been amended to ban the operation and promotion of all online gambling.

Mongolia.- The Mongolian government has passed ten legislative amendments to the Law on Permits to ban online gambling in the country. These changes amend several laws, including the Criminal Code, the Law on Infringement, Law on Advertising, the Law on Supporting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Services and tax laws related to personal income, corporate income and excise tax.

The new rules ban all types of online gambling, including betting and paid lottery activities. Changes to the Criminal Code will penalise anyone who organises gambling activities and those who allow illegal gambling via personal accounts, payment platforms, money exchange services or telecom networks.

The amended Law on Infringements outlines penalties for people or organisations responsible for advertising paid gambling, especially if they encourage children and young people to participate.

Chief cabinet secretary Uchral Nyam-Osor said: “Financial investigation data shows that around €540m has been transferred from Mongolia to other countries. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Agency has imposed fines on offending enterprises; however, the amounts are insufficient. Therefore, we are going to amend the relevant laws to prohibit such activities.”

Although the Communications Regulatory Commission has blocked access to 6,000 domain addresses that conduct online gambling, many online operators have continued to operate by changing their domains.

See also: Mongolia passes draft law to legalise sports betting