Bahamas: Online Gambling Bill to be Debated in Parliament

According to reports, an online gambling bill is likely to be introduced to the Bahamas House of Assembly this week.

Original Restrictions Opposed

Originally proposed in May 2013, the regulation of online gaming as law was rejected due to a clause allowing tourist play online and at land-based casinos only if the player's country of origin allowed it as well.

Bahamanian Parliament member Leslie Millar disclosed that passage of the gaming bill currently on the agenda of the House of Assembly could be debated as early as this week. Millar, a proponent of online gambling in the Bahamas, remains staunchly opposed to any restrictions placed on residents that are not placed on tourists.

Millar, a member of the 1968 Bahamas Olympic track team, has already refused to support any contentious parts that might appear on the incoming bill proposal, “We will not sit back and allow Bahamians who have gone out there and built an industry to be disadvantaged; that’s my greatest concern.”

Current Limits Under Consideration

What is known about the new bill proposal is that it would limit provision of online gambling to current land-based casino companies only. The restrictions to which Millar objects were on principle intentionally included in the original proposal language, according to Minister of State for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez. That restrictiveness along with regulation and taxation provisions raised an inordinate amount of controversy, even contributing to the removal of former Gaming Board Chairman and bill opponent Dr. Andre Rollins from his post last month.

Restrictions on play is not a new idea, but a duplication of some policies seen before in countries allowing land-based casino play, such as South Korea and other predominantly Asian countries. There are many voices in the Bahamanian Parliament weighing in on the issue, and it remains to be seen how restrictive the final regulatory policy for online gambling in the Bahamas will be. This incoming debate will give a strong and possibly final indication.