In a Mongolian government meeting held yesterday (6 March), officials approved a new law that would regulate sports betting while specifically outlawing other gambling activities.
The Cabinet proposed changes that would establish a special licensing system for sports betting, while explicitly prohibiting other forms of gambling and betting activities.
Officials said these measures are necessary to prevent Mongolians from becoming victims of crimes and fraud committed online, and to stop the transfer of national currency abroad that allegedly threatens economic security.
Chief cabinet secretary Uchral Nyam-Osor said: “According to a survey conducted by the National Statistics Committee, 200 economic crimes were registered in 2023, amounting to a loss of MNT 417.2bn (€133m) as of 2024.
“Mainly young people aged 18-39 were involved in these crimes. Financial investigation data shows that MNT1.7tn or $500m have been transferred from Mongolia to foreign countries.
“Although the Communications Regulatory Commission has restricted access to 6,000 domain addresses that conduct online gambling, these sites have changed their links and are still operating.
“Moreover, the Antimonopoly Agency has imposed fines on law-breaking enterprises, but according to the laws in force, the penalty amounted to just MNT 13m. Therefore, we are going to amend the relevant laws to ban such activities.”
The government also proposed amendments to the Criminal Code that would penalise individuals who support illegal gambling operations by allowing the use of their payment accounts, electronic money exchanges, telecommunications networks, or email addresses for such activities.
Additional measures include amendments to the Law on Advertising that would prohibit advertisements for gambling games and paid puzzles, and changes to the Law on Offenses that would impose fines of MNT 100,000 on individuals found guilty of gambling.