Gambling volumes fall 57% as Indonesia tightens crackdown
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- Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority ordered the blocking of 1,000 bank accounts used for online gambling on April 13.
- The latest action brings the cumulative total of frozen accounts to 33,252 since the crackdown began in 2024.
- Online gambling volumes in the country have fallen 57% year-on-year despite 422.1 million transactions recorded in 2025.
Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has ordered banks to freeze a further 1,000 accounts linked to illegal online gambling, bringing the total frozen since 2023 to 33,252.
The action, announced on April 13, is part of a coordinated campaign spanning multiple agencies and targeting the financial networks behind illegal online betting, known locally as “judol.”
OJK tightens bank controls
The OJK has deployed an Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) tool across all commercial banks. Institutions are required to scan transaction data for evidence of transfers to illegal gambling platforms and notify the regulator on detection. Freezing orders follow after additional checks.
Dian Ediana Rae, OJK chief executive of banking supervision, said:
“Online gambling has a broad impact on the economy and financial sector. OJK has requested banks to carry out enhanced due diligence or blocking of 33,252 accounts linked to the illegal activity.”
The OJK also revoked the licenses of six rural banks between January and March 2026 as part of its supervisory and consumer protection responsibilities. Separately, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), Indonesia’s anti-money laundering agency, holds its own authority to issue temporary account suspensions where dormant or criminal-linked accounts are identified.
The OJK has also signed deals with two domestic AI firms to help detect and trace payment infrastructure used in illegal online gambling, according to Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid.
Scale of the problem
PPATK data show that through the third quarter of 2025, turnover from illegal online gambling reached IDR 155 trillion (approximately $9.2 billion), down 57% on 2024, when the full-year figure reached IDR 359.8 trillion.
The number of active online gamblers fell from 9.7 million in 2024 to 3.1 million in 2025, a drop of more than 68%, according to figures cited by Minister Hafid. She described the decline as a “concrete result of the government’s commitment to protecting the public.”
Residual activity nonetheless remains substantial. PPATK recorded 422.1 million illegal online gambling transactions in 2025, with total deposits reaching Rp36.01 trillion. PPATK Public Relations Coordinator M Natsir Kongah said 12.3 million people made judol deposits through various channels.
Content enforcement has run in parallel. From October 2024 to September 2025, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs removed more than 2.8 million pieces of harmful online content, of which 2.1 million were linked to illegal online gambling.
Pressure on platforms
All forms of gambling remain illegal in Indonesia under Law No. 7 of 1974 on the Control of Gambling, the Penal Code, and the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, which extends the prohibition to online platforms. No licensing framework exists for gambling operators.
Authorities say the crackdown targets not only financial crime but also the protection of vulnerable communities, with illegal online gambling considered to have a disproportionate impact on low-income households.
Indonesia’s People’s Representative Council has called on social media platforms to fund rehabilitation centers for gambling addicts. Council member Abdullah, representative for Central Java’s sixth electoral district, said platforms were “profiting from gambling-related web traffic” and must contribute to funding treatment for those affected.
With enforcement showing measurable results on turnover and active-user numbers, the sustainability of those gains will depend on how effectively Indonesia can address demand-side pressures alongside the financial and digital controls already in place.
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