Nepalese gambling restrictions tighten foreign investment

The Nepalese Government is tightening restrictions on foreign investment in the nation’s gambling frameworks.

The proposed legislation change would lessen the impact of outside investment and bring in stricter betting regulations in general. The raft of changes has been tabled as part of the Integrated Tourism Act, a reactionary policy from the nation to regulate the expanding gambling market.

The regulatory decisions would include caps on foreign investment, compliance updates, and a more rigorous process for licensing. The act also seeks to change the existing rules on resort and casino locations in the nation.

Nepal benefits from cross-border tourism from India, and the existing legislation states a mandatory minimum three-mile radius for resort and casino locations. This new act would seek to change this to a five-mile minimum, but would overlook any existing facilities operating closer to the border.

The legislation change would update the existing percentage of control an external investor can have in a Nepalese gambling entity. Currently, any outside investor or owner can have up to 90% of a controlling interest in the likes of a Nepalese casino.

This new legislation seeks to drop the ownership cap to a 49% maximum in light of the emerging interest in Nepalese gambling entities.

Amendments would halt “light casino” environments within a resort or hotel premises; instead, the proposed legislation would require any casino to be an independent entity and would need to apply to the Department of Tourism for approval to operate in Nepal.

Nepal is also experiencing a boom in tourism with an increased development of five-star hotels and resorts. This has provided the nation with an opportunity to expand upon the existing legislation included in the Casino Regulation of 2013 Act.

Taxation and the profits that a nation or state can accrue from the levies placed on gambling operators have become an increasingly common theme in 2025. We reported that the United Kingdom Government has recently sought a change to the nation’s existing legislation, which has lain dormant for almost a quarter of a century, to meet the demands of the gambling market.

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