Online casinos are websites and apps that take real-money stakes on casino games. In the Maldives, the Communications Authority has blocked betting sites on police orders since July 2024, and a government bill submitted in December 2025 would make gambling a criminal offence. Sites that reach Maldivian users operate from abroad, with no Maldivian regulator to complain to. KiraBet does not recommend any operator.
On this page
- Blocking of betting sites
- Since July 2024, on police ordersSource 4
- Bill covers online platforms
- Operating a gambling establishment includes online platforms and businessesSource 10
- Bank card restrictions
- Bank of Maldives restricted card use on gambling sites (reported 2020)Source 6
- Licensed games on illegal sites
- Flagged by Great Britain's Gambling Commission in January 2025Source 3
An online casino is a website or app that accepts real-money stakes on games of chance. This page answers one question: what are these sites, and what does a person in the Maldives face when one of them appears on screen. It is not a list of casinos, and it does not explain how to use one.
How gambling spread in the Maldives, and how the authorities answered, is a separate subject, covered in our page on how online betting spread in the Maldives.
What an online casino is
Most online casinos offer two broad kinds of game. Software games such as slots produce results with a random number generator, which regulators elsewhere require to be statistically random1. Live dealer games stream a real table from a studio, with a presenter running the game in real time2.
Both families have their own explainers: how a slot spin is decided and what sits behind a streamed table.
Many casinos do not make their own games. Specialist suppliers build them and license them to operators, while the operator runs player accounts, takes payments and sets the terms.
That split matters. A familiar game on a site says nothing about who runs the site. In January 2025 Great Britain's Gambling Commission warned that games from licensed suppliers were appearing on unlicensed websites, passed on by third-party resellers3.
The situation for people in the Maldives
Blocking of betting sites
The Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) began blocking online betting sites in July 2024 on orders from the police. CAM did not disclose how many sites were affected4. A senior police officer said at the time that three to four sites had been identified and blocked5.
Coverage at the time noted that betting sites were being widely promoted through Telegram and social media4.
Most of that promotion lands on a phone. App store rules and the risks of files passed around in chat groups are covered in our page on casino apps and the Maldives.
Restrictions on payments
In 2020 Bank of Maldives said it was disabling the use of its cards on gambling, online trading and cryptocurrency websites, citing the outflow of scarce US dollars6. The Maldives Journal has also reported that some banks took measures to block transactions linked to gambling websites7.
Which payment routes can be disputed, and which behave more like cash, is set out in our page on payment methods and gambling sites in the Maldives.
A bill to criminalise gambling
In coverage published on 31 October 2024, the Attorney General said the government would amend the law to ban online gambling8. The government submitted a Penal Code amendment bill in December 2025 that would make gambling and operating a gambling establishment criminal offences9.
According to reporting in January 2026, the bill would make gambling a fourth-degree offence, and its definition of operating a gambling establishment expressly includes online gambling platforms and businesses10.
Why offshore sites carry extra risk
Any site that takes bets from people in the Maldives is run from somewhere else. That creates problems however polished the site looks.
No local regulator to turn to
Gambling licences are tied to territory. Great Britain's Gambling Commission, for example, says online gambling companies must hold its licence to serve British consumers, and warns that illegal overseas websites may lack the protections it requires11.
KiraBet has found no Maldivian authority that licenses online casinos. A person in the Maldives who has a dispute with an offshore site therefore has no local gambling regulator to take it to.
Money that may not come back
GambleAware NSW, a responsible gambling service in the Australian state of New South Wales, lists what can go wrong with illegal overseas sites: deposits that cannot be withdrawn, sites that close suddenly with funds lost, unauthorised withdrawals from bank accounts, and no way to recover money12.
Personal data and unfair treatment
The Gambling Commission's 2025 warning said unlicensed platforms expose consumers to risks of fraud, data privacy issues and unfair practices, and often target people who have self-excluded from gambling3.
Opening an account usually means handing personal and payment details to a company whose handling of that data cannot be checked.
Scams in the same channels
Maldives Police have warned about links sent over Telegram that trick people into sharing a one-time password, giving scammers control of the account13. The same report said the police Anti-Scam Centre recorded more than 130 scams in May 2025, with losses of about MVR 1.4 million13.
Those figures are not specific to gambling. But Telegram and social media are also where gambling platforms have been promoted to people in the Maldives10.
How to read claims made by gambling websites
Gambling sites, and the promotional pages that point to them, make claims that are easy to state and hard to check. A few questions help separate marketing from fact.
- "Licensed and regulated." A licence belongs to a named regulator and jurisdiction. Regulators publish registers: the Malta Gaming Authority, for example, runs a searchable licensee register and posts notices about websites impersonating its licensees14. A logo in a footer proves nothing, and a foreign licence does not make gambling lawful in the Maldives.
- "Available in the Maldives" or "legal for Maldivian players". Treat this as marketing. Betting sites have been blocked since 2024 and the government has moved to criminalise gambling9.
- Well-known games. Recognisable titles do not vouch for the operator; licensed games have turned up on illegal sites3.
- High RTP figures. Return to player is an average measured over a very large number of games, and results over thousands of plays can sit well above or below it15. It is not a forecast for anyone's session.
- Requests to pay in crypto. Cryptocurrency payments typically cannot be reversed and do not carry the legal protections that cards do16.
- Talk of easy or guaranteed wins. Casino games carry a house edge, the operator's built-in margin, which Great Britain's rules require to be disclosed, either directly or as an RTP figure17. No game can guarantee a profit.
Our guide on spotting unsafe gambling sites covers more warning signs.
If gambling is becoming a problem
If you or someone close to you is struggling, the National Mental Health Helpline on 1677 answers 24 hours a day and can refer callers to clinical services18. Our page on gambling harm support in the Maldives lists further options, including free international services.