The Nepal government said in an announcement lodged online on Sunday that the Nepal Telecommunications Authority had been ordered “immediately” to “close betting apps and websites, including any electronic betting” within 24 hours, in coordination with Internet service providers in that Asian nation.
The news came days after Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old former rapper musician and mayor of the capital Kathmandu, was sworn in on March 27 – as Nepal’s youngest prime minister – following a landslide victory for the Rastriya Swatantra Party.
In November, the Himalayan Times reported there had been a “surge of gambling apps and online platforms” in Nepal, adding they were “operating freely”.
In August, neighbouring India passed a bill to ban online real-money gaming in that country.
