TLDR Mauritius will fully repeal its hotel casino licence category under the 2026/27 budget. The digital games regime, launched in 2025, will now include limited payout machine operators. Casinos and Gaming Houses must connect their servers to the Mauritius Revenue Authority’s monitoring system. Bookmakers can now operate up to five betting terminals, up from three. The changes follow an anti-money laundering bill passed by the Assembly in April 2026.
Mauritius is making changes to how it regulates gambling on the island. The 2026/27 budget removes an entire licence category and adds new tax oversight for casinos.
The changes are laid out in the budget annex rather than the main budget speech. Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam did not mention gambling when he presented the budget on 19 June.
Instead, the details sit in Section 44 of the annex. It contains more than two dozen amendments to the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act.
Hotel Casino Licence Removed
The annex deletes the legal definitions of “hotel casino,” “hotel casino games,” and related terms. These will no longer count as approved activities under the law.
This means hotels can no longer run casinos under a special licence made just for them. Any hotel wanting to offer casino games will need a standard casino licence instead.
The hotel casino category has existed since the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act was consolidated in 2007. Removing it marks one of the biggest changes to that framework since then.
Digital Games and Tax Rules Expand
The budget also grows the digital games regime that started in 2025. Limited payout machine operators can now apply for digital gaming licences alongside casino and gaming house operators.
A formal definition of “digital games” will be written into the law for the first time. Every digital platform must also be checked