Cambodia aims to get better at collecting gambling duty revenues, eyes online payment

Cambodia’s casino regulator is eyeing enhanced efficiency in collecting and managing gambling-duty revenues, according to a Monday update. The topic was discussed in a meeting that day organised by the General Secretariat of the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC), and involving representatives from that regulator, and from taxation departments. The talks covered development of an information technology system for managing the collection of gambling-duty revenues, and the revenues of the regulator. “In particular, it focused on establishing an online payment system aimed at strengthening the efficiency of revenue management in the commercial gambling industry,” the Monday update from CGMC stated. The Cambodian government has signalled its intention to tighten oversight of the gaming sector and review licensing standards. The Cambodian authorities have also been reviewing casino operations as part of a wider nation-wide campaign against online scams, including investigations into gaming establishments suspected of hosting unauthorised activities. Last week, the CGMC general secretariat convened a meeting with the legal council of Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, to review a draft of a “Law on the Suppression of Illegal Gambling”. The discussion on that proposed legislation was on October 14. It focused on “provisions concerning the management and regulation of the commercial gambling sector, aiming to ensure consistency with the Law on the Management of Commercial Gambling and other applicable regulatory instruments. That is according to CGMC in a statement issued after that meeting.