Mauritius to Scrap Hotel Casino Licences Under Gambling Reform
Mauritius plans one of its biggest gambling reforms since the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act was consolidated in 2007. The 2026/27 budget would remove the hotel casino licence category, widen digital gaming eligibility and extend tax oversight to casino floors.
Hotel Casino Licence Retired
The reform removes the definitions of hotel casino, hotel casino games, hotel casino gaming machine and hotel casino operator from the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, since these will no longer count as authorised activities. The dedicated hotel casino regime, which let a hotel run a casino under a bespoke licence, disappears from the Act. Hotel-based casinos will instead need a standard casino licence where the revised framework permits one.
Digital Gaming Regime Widens
Mauritius already licenses digital gaming, a regime introduced in 2025 for casino and Gaming House operators. The budget adds limited payout machine operators as a third eligible category and inserts a statutory definition of digital games into the Act for the first time. Every digital gaming system will also need certification from an accredited independent laboratory before it goes live.
CEMS Extends to Casino Floor
The largest operational change in the package extends the Mauritius Revenue Authority’s Central Electronic Monitoring System, or CEMS, onto the casino floor. Casino and Gaming House servers must connect directly to the CEMS network. Betting operators face a parallel requirement: their servers and terminals must link to the Gambling Regulatory Authority’s own systems.
Other Budget Changes
Several smaller amendments round out the package. Bookmakers can now install up to five betting terminals at approved premises, up from three, with one machine reserved solely for payouts. The reform shifts horse race betting tax from gross stakes to stakes net of winnings paid out. The Gambling Regulatory Authority will also gain two new divisions: Responsible Gambling and Communications, and Finance and Procurement.
The changes build on anti-money laundering rules passed in April 2026 and take effect once both the Finance Bill and the Economic and Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 clear parliament.
💡TGJ Take
The removal of hotel casino licences is the headline change, but the deeper shift is in oversight. Once GRA and MRA systems link directly to casino and betting servers, real-time tax and compliance checks become far easier to enforce than they are today. Operators should treat the CEMS rollout as a compliance deadline, not a formality, and start technical integration early. Suppliers with digital gaming products should also budget time for laboratory certification before they enter the Mauritian market, since Gaming House and LPM operators will now compete for the same licence category.
