Betting act Zambia rules on bookmakers and pools
The betting act Zambia passed in 1957 calls a bookmaker anyone who bets with the public as a business, and that includes anyone running a football pool. It set up the Betting Control and Licensing Board and gave it the power to license bookmakers and betting premises.
Each bookmaker needs a licence for the business, and in a partnership every partner needs one. Running a bookmaking business without a licence is an offence, with a fine of up to 100 penalty units for a first conviction and up to 5,000 for a repeat.
Punters gain one protection above all. Under section 20, a debt from a lawful bet is enforceable in a Zambian court like any other civil debt. Section 27 lifts the Penal Code rules on common betting houses, so those rules leave a licensed bookmaker alone.
Zambia gambling regulations on age, elections and touting
Zambia gambling regulations draw their hardest lines around young people and politics, and each offence carries a maximum fine in penalty units.
| Offence | Section | Maximum fine |
|---|---|---|
| Betting with, or admitting, anyone under 18 | 22 | 500 penalty units |
| Betting on a Zambian election | 25 | 1,000 penalty units |
| Touting outside licensed premises | 15 | 50 penalty units |
| Alcohol on licensed betting premises | 16 | 250 penalty units |
| Games of chance on licensed betting premises | 17 | 150 penalty units |
| Transferring a licence | 24 | 2,000 penalty units |
The under-18 rule binds the bookmaker, its servants and its agents, and it covers entry to a shop as well as the bet itself. The election rule covers any vote for the National Assembly or for a public authority in Zambia.
A cashier who takes a slip from a 16-year-old breaks the rule. So does a bookmaker who lets it happen.
Fines are counted in penalty units, whose kwacha value is set under the Fees and Fines Act. For a punter the useful point is simpler: a site or shop that takes a bet from a 17-year-old is breaking the Act.
Gambling act Zambia rules inside a betting shop
The gambling act Zambia applies to shops is strict about what happens inside licensed betting premises: liquor sales and drinking are banned there, and so is any game of chance.
Race days add one more rule. A licensed shop within ten miles of an authorised race meeting closes from half an hour before the first race until the advertised start of the last race.
Police officers above the rank of Sub Inspector can enter licensed premises whenever they are open and remove drunk, noisy or disorderly people. When the Board weighs a new shop, the Act tells it to weigh the distance from premises licensed to sell liquor, and licence conditions can fix opening hours.
These are shop rules. They keep the betting floor free of drink and table games, and they keep touts off the street outside.
Online betting in Zambia under a premises-based law
Online betting in Zambia grew under a law written around premises, a gap Parliament's Committee on Delegated Legislation recorded in December 2021. Stakeholders told the committee that the Act's word premises meant physical business premises, and the committee recommended amending the law to include online trading.
The 2021 amendment changed two things, the licence fees and a one-year licence term, both from 1 January 2022. The Betting Levy Act, 2025 later defined a betting company as one licensed under the Betting Control Act or any other written law.
The betting control act Zambia keeps today therefore leaves an online punter one practical test: the licence line in a site's footer. With no public online register, a printed number and a company name are the evidence on hand, and the licence column for Zambian sites shows what each brand prints.
Appeals against a Board decision go to the Minister under section 26. The help routes for Zambian punters cover deposit limits and self-exclusion.
Two dates mark the recent changes. On 1 January 2022 the licence fee rose to 500,000 fee units. On 1 January 2026 the levy began.