Trinidad and Tobago Senate Approves Remote Gambling Order Ahead of January Test

^{Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament, housed in the Red House in Port of Spain, has approved an order permitting licensed remote gambling. (Photo: Baba Kii Sun / Wikimedia Commons)}

Trinidad and Tobago's Senate has unanimously approved an order permitting licensed remote gambling, completing a legislative process that began when the House of Representatives passed the measure by 33 votes to zero days earlier.

The Gambling (Gaming and Betting) (Remote Gambling) Order, 2026, removes a prohibition under Section 76 of the 2021 Gambling, Gaming and Betting Control Act that criminalised operators based in Trinidad and Tobago from offering remote gambling services internationally.

Licensing Rules Due by January 2027

Planning Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh, who piloted the Senate motion, argued that prohibition had failed to stop remote gambling and that licensing would let the state collect tax from an activity already taking place.

"This is an industry that will thrive with or without us. It's an industry that will take a life of its own." — Kennedy Swaratsingh, Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, in the Senate debate reported by the Trinidad Guardian.

Opposition senator Faris Al-Rawi backed the order but pressed the government on whether the licensing machinery was ready, noting that Part Three of the 2021 Act, which governs licensing, had not yet been brought into force. Attorney General John Jeremie committed to proclaiming the remaining provisions by 1 January 2027, with the Gambling Control Commission coordinating with the Central Bank on payment systems.

Existing Tax Base Already Measured in Millions

Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo, who piloted the measure in the House, told Parliament that regulated gaming generated approximately TT$72.66m (around US$10.74m) in 2025 across 1,150 registered accounts, split between Gaming Amusement Tax and Club Gaming Tax, a regulatory expansion that mirrors moves in other developing gambling jurisdictions.

Independent senator Desiree Murray raised consumer-protection concerns, recommending that remote gambling payments be made in US dollars or another foreign currency, which she argued could act as a safeguard by keeping transactions within existing credit card spending limits. The licensing and payment framework, including rules for electronic-money issuers, is still being finalised ahead of the January target, according to the Trinidad Guardian.

Tancoo also cited a coordinated enforcement exercise run between October 2025 and February 2026, which recovered about TT$15.58m across 247 payments from 240 Gaming Amusement Tax accounts, as evidence the state already has the administrative capacity to collect gambling-related revenue before the remote market formally opens.

Swaratsingh told the Senate that the global gambling industry could be worth as much as US$700bn by 2028, a projection he presented as part of the case for regulating rather than continuing to prohibit remote gambling. The order does not by itself create the full licensing system; that depends on the provisions Jeremie has committed to bringing into force by January. Both chambers passed the measure with cross-party support, with no votes recorded against it in either the House or the Senate.