Singapore Pools, Turf Club okayed to offer online bets

Online gambling will be back in vogue in Singapore this fall, albeit in a far more limited form than before.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) declared that the Singapore Pools lottery monopoly and Singapore Turf Club race betting monopoly had been “found suitable” for exemption from the Remote Gambling Act (RGA) that was enacted in February 2015.

The new Singapore Pools Account service will launch on Oct. 25, offering 4D and Toto lottery products, as well as betting on football and Formula 1 races. The Turf Club’s new iTote online wagering platform will debut on Nov. 15. Neither operator is permitted to offer online casino, poker or other gambling products.

The two operators’ RGA exemptions are valid for three years and could be revoked if routine audits and inspections show the sites’ failing to maintain social safeguards, including setting daily funding and gambling limits and no wagering on credit. Failure to maintain these safeguards could also result in fines of up to S$1m (US $734k) per offence.