For the majority of Casinoplusbonus casino players, you can expect 2025 to bring further regulatory changes. As per the image for this news piece, these changes can become a minefield of text to sift through. As a result, in this news report, the goal is to help our English-speaking readers from all six nations aware of some of the changes possibly coming your way.
Table of Contents
Countries Casinoplusbonus Has Regulatroy Updates
The countries our casino reviews and news focus on as of 2025 are New Zealand, Ireland, The UK, India, South Africa, India, and Canada. Whether we decide to add more countries to our platform remains to be seen. In 2024, we also targeted Australia, but due to the laws of the country strictly forbidding online casinos, we decided it was our moral obligation to cease providing content for the Aussie market.
Therefore, for today’s news, we will concentrate our efforts on our six target nations, giving you a brief update on what to expect when it comes to rules and regulations over 2025.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the government is already preparing for a regulatory overhaul for iGaming. You can read how the expected licensing framework will affect players and the country’s iGaming market here via the Casinoplusbonus How Will Regulated Online Casinos Affect New Zealand?
The new licensing system will mean that Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, and Anjouan Gaming online casinos will enter the realms of black-market iGaming platforms in the eyes of New Zealand law. Throughout 2025, we will learn more about how New Zealand plans to introduce its new online casino framework. However, during 2025, New Zealanders who play online slots and table games online will not see any significant changes.
The proposed plans won’t come into place until 2026. In the same year, the country will ban all greyhound racing. Those who want to place bets on greyhounds will need to look overseas to the UK and USA.
For more about online gambling in New Zealand, please see the Casinoplusbonus New Zealand online casino page.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland has been preparing to regulate its iGaming market via its Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI). The GRAI came into existence under the newly created Gambling Regulation Act 2024.
The idea was originally to have online casinos apply for licensing and pay taxes, and I expected the move to happen in 2024, yet that has not happened. The reason is due to debates regarding the proposed online gambling framework, thus causing delays.
Now, the question is, will a mandatory framework come into place in 2025? Also, the next question is, does the GRAI plan to ban all overseas online gambling platforms, such as those operating under the Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, and Anjouan Gaming licensing authorities, because currently, these platforms are still legally able to offer Irish players online gambling services.
Irish players will just need to hold onto their hats and wait patiently to see what the GRAI’s next move is. For the time being, you will see fewer gambling ads as the GRAI has had some influence on regulating gambling advertising and introduced new rules restricting sponsorships by online gambling companies.
On top of this, the GRAI has established a National Gambling Exclusion Register and a Social Impact Fund. The authority has also been involved in other activities supporting and protecting individuals with problem gambling issues.
For more information on the Irish iGaming market and the latest Irish gambling news, please see the Casinoplusbonus Irish online gambling page.
The UK
In the UK, the White Paper consultations continue. As a result, new rules will continue to cause some disruption in the industry. After continual changes to the rules throughout 2024 reducing the maximum bet limits for online slots, the next big project for the UKGC is affordability checks.
Affordability checks are going to affect most UK online gamblers. At this time, there is a pilot project in place requesting gambling establishments to request an affordability check for all players who deposit £500+ monthly.
In February 2025, the amount will decrease to £150. The positive and negative implications of requesting affordability checks at the £150 per month level remain to be seen.
For a list of changes affecting online casino gameplay, please see the Casinoplusbonus British online casinos page.
India
India is a bit of a mystery at the moment.
Although the Federal Government wants sole control over all states when it comes to online gambling laws, it seems that some states are pushing back. The country’s legal system is a complex web of laws. This has resulted in slow progress in regard to bringing a national or unified set of online gambling rules into India.
Consequently, overseas online gambling platforms that are operating under the Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, and Anjouan Gaming licensing authorities operate.
Initially, the fear was that any iGaming or sports betting sites operating under these authorities would eventually become black market gambling platforms, yet, with the current struggle between the state and federal laws, it seems like any progress for India to move forward with a system that bans overseas online casinos and request domestic licensing is a long way off. In my opinion, way beyond 2025 and even 2026.
You can stay up to date with news covering India’s gambling market via the Casinoplusbonus online gambling in India page.
Canada
The Canadian online gambling system is quite stable. Most Canadian players can still sign up for online gambling websites operating under the Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Anjouan Gaming licensing authorities.
Even under the provincial iGaming Ontario licensing framework, players have the choice to sign up for overseas online gambling sites or those operating under iGaming Ontario, which is a subsidiary of online gambling licensing issuance under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).
If you are a resident of Alberta, you will need to stay up to date with news coming out of this province. In September 2024, we announced that private online gambling firms will operate in Alberta.
In comparison to AGCO and iGaming Ontario duo, Alberta plans to ban overseas online casinos depending on whether laws permit the province to implement bans. This would mean citizens would no longer be able to play on platforms operating under the Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Anjouan Gaming licensing authorities. For now, the ban on overseas casinos is conjecture.
Whether other provinces or territories will make similar announcements in 2025 remains to be seen. However, the general consensus is that the success of the Ontario market may have lit a fire, and more Canadian provinces are likely to follow suit.
Find out more about licensing authorities in Canada via our Canadian online gambling page.
South Africa
We have left South Africa to last because we are not expecting any significant changes in the country for the time being.
If you are a South African citizen, then overseas online casinos operating under the Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, and Anjouan Gaming licensing authorities are still accessible from the country. With that being said, these platforms are in somewhat of a grey area.
South Africa’s law still prohibits online gambling within its borders, and no domestic iGaming licensing exists. Online sports books are operating under domestic licensing frameworks that have been making deals with iGaming software providers to host online casino games. These sports books are walking a dangerous line because, technically, they are not allowed to host online casino games.
Yet, there does not seem to be any action from the government preventing players from playing at overseas casinos using cryptocurrency or the South African Rand. At the same time, no action has been taken to prevent online slots and table games appearing on sportsbooks online operating under domestic licensing.
Whether 2025 will be the year that all changes is a big question. At some point someone is going to clamp down on the domestic online casino game distribution. Yet, preventing overseas online casinos or sports books does not appear to be high on the government’s agenda with no news indicating it plans to clamp down on overseas casinos and sports books.
For more information covering online gambling in South Africa, please visit the Casinoplusbonus online casinos SA page.
Staying Up To Date With Gambling Regulations
For the most part, most regulatory updates will take you by surprise, especially if you don’t read gambling news that often. For example, those who do not stay up to date with UK gambling news are probably unaware that they will need to undergo affordability checks when they deposit more than £150 come February 2025. This is fine as we learn from experience. However, if you do want to stay up to date with regulatory changes and not be surprised by rules that hit you out of the blue, then please continue to visit Casinoplusbonus.
To ensure you are constantly up-to-date with the latest online gambling regulatory laws in your country, visit the online casino page related to your country accessible via the Casinoplusbonus EN homepage or the Reptuable Casinos menu above.
You can also visit our casino news page via the menu. If you are looking for news specific to New Zealand, Ireland, The UK, India, South Africa, India, or Canada, you can use our country-specific pages accessible via the homepage and menu or the accompanying table.
Leave A Comment