BETTING DUTY (AMENDMENT) BILL 2025
Mr. Chan Chun Ying:
President, in my capacity as Chairman of the Bills Committee on the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025, I submit the report to the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) and briefly outline the major deliberations of the Bills Committee. The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108), the Betting Duty Regulations (Cap. 108A) and the Specification of Public Offices Notice (Cap. 1C) to, amongst others, empower the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs to authorize betting on basketball matches; charge a duty on the net stake receipts derived from the conduct of authorized betting on basketball matches; allow companies that conduct authorized betting on basketball matches to bet on basketball matches for the purpose of hedging; and repeal obsolete provisions on guaranteed amount for non-local horse races.
Members of the Bills Committee are in general supportive of the Government’s proposal to regulate basketball betting activities through legislation, and are of the view that the Government should regulate basketball betting activities by channelling the existing gambling demand into a safe and regulated environment, thereby combating illegal gambling and reducing the criminals’ sources of income. Moreover, members are in general supportive of the Government’s proposal to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for basketball betting by modelling on the regulatory regime for football betting to address the problem of illegal basketball gambling, while safeguarding public public interests.
Members have noted that the Government established the Ping Wo Fund (“PWF”) in 2003 to fund both preventive and remedial measures to address the gambling-related problems. Members have raised concerns about whether the service coverage of the four existing counselling centres funded by PWF is adequate for young people, and have suggested that publicity in schools and family education should be strengthened. The Government has advised that it attaches great importance to preventing gambling-related problems, particularly among the youth. It will review the work of PWF from time to time, including that of the four counselling centres, as well as other public education and publicity work, and will enhance their respective service efficacy on a continuous basis. Also, in addition to the existing four funded counselling centres, the Administration will allocate additional resources to establish a new centre dedicated to providing counselling and support services for the youth to guide young people in developing proper understanding of the law and positive values. In particular, public education efforts will be strengthened to raise awareness among young people on the harms of gambling addiction, and to emphasize to young people that participating in illegal gambling, such as betting with an illegal bookmaker, is already an offence.
The Administration has advised that it will look into the existing publicity channels to strengthen protection for the juveniles, including giving consideration to enhancing publicity efforts through social media platforms and applications frequently used by young people to remind them of the criminal liabilities associated with illegal gambling. It will also advise the Hong Kong Jockey Club (“HKJC”) to avoid diminished effectiveness due to prolonged repetition of the same warning messages. Furthermore, the Administration will consider using real-life cases in publicity and education.
The Administration has also advised that it will continue to work closely with the PWF Advisory Committee to step up publicity and counselling services for young people. The Administration will also request HKJC to increase the donation to PWF for further enhancement of PWF’s work.
Regarding the proposed regulatory regime on basketball betting, members have noted that the same approach on calculation and collection of betting duty for football betting will be adopted for basketball betting, under which betting duty is proposed to be charged at the rate of 50% of the net stake receipts derived from the conduct of authorized betting. While expressing support for the proposed tax rate, some members have also pointed out that there are different opinions among various sectors of the community about the tax rate. Members are concerned about how the executive authorities and the legislature will review and monitor the tax rate in future.
The Administration has advised that upon the passage of the Bill, HKJC will be requested to regularly submit financial reports and the reports on sports matches. The Administration will review HKJC’s compliance with its licensing conditions, including whether adjustments to the rate of the basketball betting duty are needed, through these reports and discussions with the Betting and Lotteries Commission. The Administration has advised that the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (“HYAB”) will continue to monitor and follow up on the implementation of the new regulatory regime. When operation of the new regulatory regime has matured, HYAB will report to LegCo in a timely manner. Pursuant to the proposed new section 6WI(3) of the Betting Duty Ordinance, LegCo could by resolution amend the rate of basketball betting duty.
Neither the Bills Committee nor the Administration has proposed any amendment to the Bill.
President, this is my report on the work of the Bills Committee. I will now express my personal views on the Bill.
According to the data provided by HKJC, the turnover of illegal basketball gambling in Hong Kong reached $70 billion to HK$90 billion in 2024. It is estimated that the number of participants in illegal betting has reached about 430 000. This shows the significant scale and pervasiveness of illegal betting activities, highlighting the failure of the current enforcement and public education measures to effectively curb such illegal activities.
The vast illegal betting market, with its unregulated capital flows, may easily become a breeding ground for money laundering and criminal activities. At the Bills Committee meetings, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice MAK has repeatedly emphasized that the Government does not encourage gambling. She has also pointed out that the primary measure to combat illegal gambling activities is enforcement, followed by public education, with legislative regulation of ngambling activities as the final resort. This legislative exercise aims to compress the space for illegal bookmaking on basketball betting, and direct the funds originally flowing into the illegal market back to the formal channels subject to regulation, so as to enhance regulatory effectiveness, safeguard public interests, and maintain social security. For this reason, I support the legalization of basketball betting.
During the public consultation period, there were views that basketball betting could be open for bidding by other companies and should not be exclusively operated by HKJC. I firmly oppose this. The reason is that if it is open for bidding, the successful bidder may engage in greater promotion of the related betting business owing to the need to bear the bidding costs, which would run counter to the Bill’s original intent of discouraging gambling. It is not beneficial to society as a whole.
The scope of betting covered by the Bill excludes matches involving Hong Kong teams or matches held locally, focusing solely on overseas leagues. This prevents betting activities from interfering with the operation of local matches, thus safeguarding the impartiality and sportsmanship of competition. In reality, there may still be illegal betting on local matches, leading to negative consequences such as attempts to manipulate the match outcomes. After the enactment, the Police should strengthen enforcement efforts to combat illegal gambling involving local matches, so as to safeguard the integrity of competition and foster a healthy, positive environment for sports development.
Regarding publicity and education, apart from cautioning against gambling addiction, greater emphasis should be placed on the risks of illegal gambling, such as easy losses of large sums of money, impact on family relationship, and even the possibility of breaking the law, so as to enhance public knowledge and awareness of legal gambling options, and guide people towards safer and more responsible betting behaviour.
Many voices in the community have expressed concern that the legalization may turn young people from being interested in participating in basketball to being lured into gambling activities and even becoming pathological gamblers. According to the statistics from the four counselling and treatment centres, among those with gambling disorder who received their services in the past five years, 102 were aged 18 or below, accounting for 1.6% of the total. The figures indicate that young people are not currently the primary risk group of gambling disorder.
However, given basketball’s immense popularity among the young, who pay relatively high attention to international competitions such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the European Basketball Championship (EBA), some young people may develop curiosity and follow other people’s behaviour of placing bets while watching matches. The Government should step up publicity at the initial stage of matches authorized for betting, clearly conveying the statutory prohibition on youth participation in gambling.
Moreover, a number of members have pointed out that the current means of publicity, which are mainly television and radio broadcasts, may not effectively target young people, since their exposure to traditional media has significantly declined. The Administration has advised that it will consider enhancing publicity through such channels as social media, short video platforms and online advertisements, which I fully support. However, I suggest that the Government should at the same time leverage school and community channels to promote anti‑gambling messages through diverse avenues such as classroom activities, collaboration with parents, and publicity at the district level, thereby enhancing young people’s awareness of betting risks and guiding juveniles away from gambling.
The establishment of an additional centre by PWF will help expand the service coverage. It is a measure worthy of strong support. Apart from providing counselling and support, these centres can serve as frontline observation platforms to gain deeper insights into the changes in young people’s attitudes and behavioural patterns towards betting. In particular, with the legalization of basketball betting, it warrants ongoing attention as to whether their exposure to gambling has increased, whether they have turned from participating in sports to betting, or even being addicted to gambling, etc. Through data collection and analysis, more targeted counselling strategies and preventive measures can be formulated to mitigate the negative impact of betting on young people’s physical and mental development.
As regards HKJC, it has introduced the Voluntary Account Betting Self‑exclusion Service, allowing account holders to set a self-exclusion period, with options of two years, three years or for an indefinite period. During the self‑exclusion period, users are prohibited from placing bets or opening new betting accounts, thereby helping gamblers to proactively manage their gambling behaviour. However, this service requires users to submit their application forms in person at the racecourses or off-course betting branches, which may discourage some people from participation. If the voluntary self-exclusion service can be activated directly through the betting application, I believe it will help enhance the convenience and usage rates of the service. Yet reactivation must be processed in-person.
To step up the promotion of responsible basketball betting, HKJC may consider setting a cap on the number and amount of bets in the betting application. When the user reaches the preset limit, the system may frequently display pop-up messages, such as “You have placed such-and-such a number of bets this week/Your bets have exceeded such-and-such an amount of dollars, please be rational in betting”, so as to remind the public to exercise restraint and avoid excessive betting.
In addition, some members have mentioned that they hope HKJC will invest more resources in basketball. I have noted that apart from charitable donations and athlete incentive schemes, HKJC has recently allocated $70 million to support a basketball programme, promoting the development of basketball at the community level so that more members of the public can personally experience the appeal of basketball. I believe this programme will help elevate the overall atmosphere of local basketball. I hope that the programme will be implemented on a long-term basis, continuously injecting impetus into Hong Kong’s sports development.
“It is better to dredge than to block, and it is better to channel than to dredge.” The legalization of basketball betting is not intended to encourage gambling, but rather, to channel the public away from illegal gambling, safeguard the overall interests of society, and with enhanced efforts in enforcement and public education, combat illegal activities and establish a safer, more transparent and responsible betting environment.
President, I so submit.