Asia-Pacific
Pakistan
No dedicated national gambling regulator; gambling is criminalized federally under the Prevention of Gambling Act and enforced provincially (e.g. by provincial police and, for provincial lotteries, provincial finance/excise departments); tourist-complex casino exceptions (foreigners only) fall to relevant provincial governments
Regulations & Licensing
Casino
MixedOnline Casino
ProhibitedBetting
MixedOnline Betting
ProhibitedLottery
RegulatedBingo
ProhibitedKey Legislation
- Prevention of Gambling Act, 1977 (based on the British-era Public Gambling Act, 1867)
- Provincial gambling ordinances (e.g. Sindh Prevention of Gambling Ordinance, 1978)
- Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (used to block illegal betting apps and websites)
- Virtual Assets Act, 2026 (crypto oversight, applied against crypto-funded underground betting)
Online Gambling
Prohibited
- Online casino play
- Online sports betting / offshore betting apps
- Online lottery sales
- Online bingo
- Use of stablecoin/crypto rails to fund offshore betting
License validity: No licensing regime exists; regulators periodically block offshore operator apps and domains
Land-Based Gambling
Allowed
- Foreigners-only casino gaming inside licensed tourist complexes (provincial exception)
- On-track horse race betting
- Government-authorized lotteries
Prohibited
- Casino gambling by Pakistani citizens/residents
- Public gambling houses and private gambling dens
- Bingo halls
- Unlicensed betting operations
Taxation
Provincial lottery duty/levyVaries by province
License validity: Provincial government approval required for tourist-complex casinos and authorized lotteries; no federal commercial gambling licensing regime
Regulation data is editorial and for information only — not legal advice.
