Can Gamblers Go to Jail Under Bangladesh’s New Gambling Law?

[Synchronice]

I was just browsing online and saw this gambling news, so I thought of sharing it here. It is about Bangladesh, and I’m sure there are some members here living in that country, so please share your experience or knowledge about this because my understanding is only based on the article I read.

From what I understand, anyone running an online casino or betting platform can face up to 7 years of jail time, but what surprised me more is this part:

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/js-passes-anti-gambling-law-4212651

“According to the law, anyone directly or indirectly involved in gambling will face up to two years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of Tk 2,00,000, or both.”

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

This is crazy but true, anyone who tries to gamble, will be labeled as criminal and strictly punished for that. Honestly, it doesn't mean that someone automatically goes to jail. I think that they'll focus to make people pay fines instead of directly sending them into jail. At the moment, fine is $1600 and it's a lot of money for Bangladesh. The government will easily collect money from people. Why will they send someone into jail where they'll have to spend money on them? Isn't it better to collect money from a citizen instead of spending money on them? Such laws don't make sense, we all know that but it's one way for the government to easily collect tons of money and to easily accuse and convict anyone too, which they don't like.
In what sane world it makes me a criminal if I simply gamble and do no harm to anyone? It doesn't make any sense but sadly, some sheep love to be controlled and wants rule on everything.

[Pi-network314159]

I was just browsing online and saw this gambling news, so I thought of sharing it here. It is about Bangladesh, and I’m sure there are some members here living in that country, so please share your experience or knowledge about this because my understanding is only based on the article I read.

From what I understand, anyone running an online casino or betting platform can face up to 7 years of jail time, but what surprised me more is this part:

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/js-passes-anti-gambling-law-4212651

“According to the law, anyone directly or indirectly involved in gambling will face up to two years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of Tk 2,00,000, or both.”

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

I don't really know why the Bangladesh government implemented this law, but it is obvious that gambling addiction is becoming rampant among the youth, they would have sanctioned the gambling site or make them pay huge amount but not making it compulsory that anyone found gambling online will be sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. It's is not good at all. If it only affected the gambling site, it would have been better, but this affected the gamblers. What has gamblers have to do with this if I may ask ? They should not have been added to serve for 2 years in prison.

[Nwada001]

Can’t find any comment from anyone from Bangladesh in this thread; maybe I missed it. I really needed to confirm if the rules are really strict as it’s written in that article, as some governments can make laws, and to some extent they won’t make such harsh decisions on some offenders, especially sending someone to prison for just gambling when there could be some punishment for such an act rather than taking 7 years of the person's life away.

[PX-Z]

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

Gambling is illegal on Bangladesh ever since. This new rule is just to emphasize and more precise for the expanding of casinos online. For imprisonment, up to 5 years for participating and up to 2 years involving like referring or promoting gambling there. That's a harsh imprisonment plus the fines. If i live there then its better to be safe better then never.

Now i wonder if posting on a forum where gambling is indirectly connected or posting on gambling boards falls on "directly or indirectly involved", so i guess, TOR plus VPN is really a must when accessing internet from there.

[goldkingcoiner]

I was just browsing online and saw this gambling news, so I thought of sharing it here. It is about Bangladesh, and I’m sure there are some members here living in that country, so please share your experience or knowledge about this because my understanding is only based on the article I read.

From what I understand, anyone running an online casino or betting platform can face up to 7 years of jail time, but what surprised me more is this part:

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/js-passes-anti-gambling-law-4212651

“According to the law, anyone directly or indirectly involved in gambling will face up to two years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of Tk 2,00,000, or both.”

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

That seems harsh. What if you are doing a private party with your friends and you all decide to spice up your time by playing poker? Is the one who invited the friends to his house for this private gambling considered also running a betting casino? Does he have to go to jail for 7 years? Or is that still allowed?

I agree that victims should not be treated as criminals. Especially people who are victim to their own human nature. It is in human nature to gamble and people should not be punished for that.

Seems like a backwards law to me...

[Crypto Library]

I am from Bangladesh and the laws here are very strict against gambling. But this is not just a matter of the current Gambling Law, but gambling has been strictly prohibited in Bangladesh for a long time.

And here, according to the current law, it is not the case that gambling will lead to jail, there have been many gamblers who have been caught and jailed for gambling.
However, the current new government in Bangladesh has come to power and has passed the new law mainly because the amount of gambling and drug addiction in the society has become very dangerious.  And yes, gambling used to go to jail, and it still does.

[Furious 7]

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

This regulation is the same as what happens in my country because my country also applies the same thing where players or site managers if proven to be gambling then all of them will get a prison sentence. But this regulation depends on the implementation.

If your state becomes selective and makes this a priority then it is likely that there will be a lot of gamblers imprisoned because of the new regulation but when its implementation is still minimal then it is just a regulation without implementation.  In my country the punishment for those who do gambling regardless of whether they are players or bookmakers is prison but because there are still a lot of corrupt practices among officials, this will still be very easy to manipulate because there are corrupt officials who are back up and corruption is still rife even though the regulations have been in place since the beginning.

[ejikeme24]

I'm not from Bangladesh I don't even know how Thier government operates, but for Thier government to move to this extent it seems the rate of gambling addict in Bangladesh is high. With These strategy I'm sure they can easily achieve what they want, because no one would want to be sentence in jail or prison, not only that the person will also pay a fine of tk 2,000,000 that's way too much I'm sure that anyone who is with his or her right senses will let go off anything that has to do with gambling since the government is now against it, I know it's hard to stick to that rule due to the fact that some people are already used to gambling as Thier best way to have fun but we can look for other means I'm sure there are a lot of fun activities out there.

[Alphakilo]

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

This regulation is the same as what happens in my country because my country also applies the same thing where players or site managers if proven to be gambling then all of them will get a prison sentence. But this regulation depends on the implementation.

If your state becomes selective and makes this a priority then it is likely that there will be a lot of gamblers imprisoned because of the new regulation but when its implementation is still minimal then it is just a regulation without implementation.  In my country the punishment for those who do gambling regardless of whether they are players or bookmakers is prison but because there are still a lot of corrupt practices among officials, this will still be very easy to manipulate because there are corrupt officials who are back up and corruption is still rife even though the regulations have been in place since the beginning.

I had to find out for myself if this news is true and it turns out to be true and this gambling prevention act was only instituted on the 1st of this month to replace the old colonial gambling act of 1867.
It's good about the implementation, it shows that the government isn't concerned about the revenue they would normally stand to benefit from while these gambling businesses operate in that jurisdiction and while I pity those average bettors who are now going to be treated as criminals if caught gambling, this implementation goes as far to please their old religious norms and fight corruption in the form of money laundering and addiction that's caused by gambling while we forget that this is the digital age and if such laws are implemented to save old religious beliefs, then more has to be done to restrict digital growth and new technology in that region too so as they remain conservative and myopic in reality.

Gambling businesses in this region would have to relocate to more favorable places a d gamblers too or simply quit hard cold turkey just to be safe from prison sentence or huge fines.

[salad daging]

Yes - If the law is in place, a gambler can be imprisoned if caught.
My country, Indonesia, prohibits gambling, there is a law, gamblers, operators, and streamers will be arrested under the applicable articles, the government is currently working to curb gambling advertising on social media by collaborating with these platforms.

[coinlary]

It's  a thing fo4 them and they've always enforce it for so many years. It doesn't go according to their religion though but still I don't know if it's  right to enforce it as law. People should be given the freedom to do stuffs , not basically saying everything  but obvious things that should be decided by individuals themselves.

I am from Bangladesh and the laws here are very strict against gambling. But this is not just a matter of the current Gambling Law, but gambling has been strictly prohibited in Bangladesh for a long time.
~snip
However, the current new government in Bangladesh has come to power and has passed the new law mainly because the amount of gambling and drug addiction in the society has become very dangerious.  And yes, gambling used to go to jail, and it still does.

So how do you guys handle gambling? VPN or hidden services ?  Because I know they will be a check for "gambling" on every site you visit . They should be banned anyway . Are they? If yes the the rule is on accessing it illegally since it's banned anyways. What part is right?

[Cantsay]

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

I think the ban here applies to not just the operator but also those who make use of it and that it the gamblers, and I actually think this is better. If you want to make something illegal in a country, don't just make it so that only the operators take the blame; the users should also have some sort of punishment, which would keep them away from gambling because any little slip-up could make them spend the next two years behind bars.

[Orpichukwu]

The law against gambler in that country is clear, what you read is how it is, the country doesn't support gambling and so anyone that violates the government law against gambling will definitely face the law unless the person was not even caught. So this concerns both a gambling operators or the gambler. What I am actually curious to ask is that, how about if it's a citizen that only promotes a casino company on their social account?.

Before the government takes this type of decision, they might have seen a solid reason to do that, not just because of the high increase in gambling addiction around the world, but it could also be related to religious beliefs since the country is filled with Muslims; as we know, the majority of them hate gambling. I just wonder how those who are against the law will cope with such punishment.

[Powerjumboo]

I was just browsing online and saw this gambling news, so I thought of sharing it here. It is about Bangladesh, and I’m sure there are some members here living in that country, so please share your experience or knowledge about this because my understanding is only based on the article I read.

From what I understand, anyone running an online casino or betting platform can face up to 7 years of jail time, but what surprised me more is this part:

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/js-passes-anti-gambling-law-4212651

“According to the law, anyone directly or indirectly involved in gambling will face up to two years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of Tk 2,00,000, or both.”

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

When something increases excessively in a country, strict decisions are taken from that country. I think this is exactly what happened in Bangladesh because in Bangladesh, gambling has caught everyone in such a way that the government does not see the future of the people well, which is why it may have taken such a decision on gambling. Moreover, the number of Muslims in Bangladesh is very large and gambling is not acceptable for Muslims at all, which is why the government of their country can make such a law. And when the government makes such a law on gambling as a whole, there will be the same punishment for not only the operators but also the customers.

[Lida93]

Reading that article it really seems that Bangladesh government became more stricter on their gambling law, since we could see that the operators will not only get penalize. Also those regular gamblers can get punished on that law to.

If that's the case the situation happening and the new law implemented by their government is really scary. For sure numbers of gamblers will decline, because many will provably got afraid to continue gambling and just decide to quit to follow the law to avoid getting punish.

Those I pity whom I think would definitely fall victim to this strict newly established law by the Bangladesh authority are the gambling addicts. Unfortunately, addiction doesn't care about the law and consequences when it's begins to bites deep into it's victims who have lost control of their will and are just vulnerable to the gambling problem they suffer. I think the government should just be ready to increase their prisons capacity.

[Bright0515]

These strict laws are put in place to reduce gambling addiction in the country but to me it seems more like dictatorship because there's no more right to freedom. Not everyone is addicted to Gambling in Bangladesh and as a matter of fact some people are gambling responsibly, this is the more reason why I think that the actions of the government taken against them that are gamblers it could lead to something else that's would be difficult to solve.

[asriloni]

It's true the sanction will be applicable to the anyone who involved in the gambling. However, it's much worsen than you think.

1. 2 years in prison for gambling actors

2. 5 years for online gambling players

3. Police can also seizure the phone or any device used to access the gambling site or gambling app. This basically a robbery.

So i think that rule is very strict. It's also my first time to see the regulators are granting police to robbing their citizens.

[Franklyn-wood]

I was just browsing online and saw this gambling news, so I thought of sharing it here. It is about Bangladesh, and I’m sure there are some members here living in that country, so please share your experience or knowledge about this because my understanding is only based on the article I read.

From what I understand, anyone running an online casino or betting platform can face up to 7 years of jail time, but what surprised me more is this part:

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/js-passes-anti-gambling-law-4212651

“According to the law, anyone directly or indirectly involved in gambling will face up to two years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of Tk 2,00,000, or both.”

So does that mean even if you are not an operator but only a gambler, you can still go to jail? In other countries, gamblers are often seen more as victims, especially if addiction is involved, but here it looks like they can also be treated as criminals.

What can you say about this?

This is crazy but true, anyone who tries to gamble, will be labeled as criminal and strictly punished for that. Honestly, it doesn't mean that someone automatically goes to jail. I think that they'll focus to make people pay fines instead of directly sending them into jail. At the moment, fine is $1600 and it's a lot of money for Bangladesh. The government will easily collect money from people. Why will they send someone into jail where they'll have to spend money on them? Isn't it better to collect money from a citizen instead of spending money on them? Such laws don't make sense, we all know that but it's one way for the government to easily collect tons of money and to easily accuse and convict anyone too, which they don't like.
In what sane world it makes me a criminal if I simply gamble and do no harm to anyone? It doesn't make any sense but sadly, some sheep love to be controlled and wants rule on everything.

The fine is a lot of money. Imagine paying a whooping some of about $1,500 or more equivalent to about 200.000 Taka or 2 year imprisoned terms. Come to think of it, how much was gotten from gambling to pay such fine. This will result to large amount of inmate, because I don't think many will be able to pay this fine as required by there government as those addicted to gambling and can't just do without it gamble and if caught will prefer to go to jail instead of paying such amount of money.
I believe the government put this laws to regulate gambling and reduce young people from gambling addiction and it effects on social psychological environment.

[Crypto_Timothy]

What can you say about this?

Well I don't live in Bangladesh but from the article it appears the law is broad enough to cover not only operators of online gambling platforms but also people who participate in gambling, whether directly or indirectly. Sha different countries take very different approaches like some will focus on penalizing operators while treating gamblers as people who need support, whereas others criminalize participation as part of a broader effort to discourage gambling altogether, the strategy really depends on the government and how they view the people.

[Shinpako09]

If anyone, including players, could end up in jail for up to seven years for engaging in gambling, that's a strong reason to follow the law. If I were there, even if there were still several ways to access gambling and I saw others doing it without getting caught, I still wouldn't dare.

They wouldn't implement such strict rules if they weren't fully committed to enforcing them. For me, the punishment is too harsh. Anyone who still chooses to gamble in that country either doesn't care about going to jail or is simply too confident that they can exploit loopholes on the internet and avoid getting caught.