Online gambling and debt traps

Online gambling and loan traps have become a growing problem in Bangladesh. In recent times, taking advantage of easy access to the internet and smartphones, hundreds of international online gambling sites and apps such as Onexbet, Melbet and Baji Live have spread their networks through domestic agents. It is no longer just a game for the upper class in the cities. The habit has now reached from village tea shops to university halls.

Crores of taka are being smuggled out of the country every day using local mobile banking channels like bKash, Rocket or Nagad. The most frightening thing is that to maintain this gambling addiction and recover the initial losses, young people are getting involved in the trap of unauthorised and illegal instant loan apps or high-interest online loans. 

In the last few years, many students and job seekers have chosen the path of suicide after being subjected to thousands of times of mental torture and blackmail against a loan of just a few thousand taka. The digital version of the casino has entered every home today in the guise of gaming or easy money income online. The path that begins with curiosity ends in the abyss of debt, family breakdown and extreme degradation of morality. If this silent epidemic is not stopped now, the arrogance of this demographic dividend of 2026 will soon turn into a demographic curse.

This death trap of online gambling and debt is not only a social crime, but it is also a big blow to the country’s macroeconomics. The money bet on gambling boards is being smuggled out of the country in an instant through cryptocurrencies or hundis, which is constantly putting pressure on the foreign exchange reserves. On the other hand, when young people turn to the so-called easy loan apps to withdraw the money they lose in the excitement of a moment, the crisis deepens. These apps take control of the user’s phone contact list and gallery along with high interest rates. Later, if there is a slight delay in paying the loan amount, defamatory blackmail starts by calling family members and friends. As a result, many potential youth are mentally disturbed and turning to crime. Some are choosing the path of suicide.

To protect the youth from this silent epidemic, it is necessary to take multidimensional and coordinated steps. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) should permanently block gambling sites and loan apps with the help of artificial intelligence and advanced technology. Suspicious and unusual transactions of mobile financial services providers like bKash, Rocket or Nagad should be strictly monitored and the agents should be held accountable.

The ancient 19th century Public Gambling Act should be amended to include online gambling as a strictly punishable and non-bailable crime. A wide campaign should be run in educational institutions and the media about its ill effects. Parents should increase their vigilance over their children’s digital behaviour in the family and provide mental health support for those affected.

Standing at the edge of this darkness, we must remember that behind every young person who commits suicide, there is a lifelong cry of a family and the premature death of a state’s potential. Therefore, it is time to build social and state resistance against this death trap. Just as the administration must ensure the strictest implementation of the law, the light of moral education must be brought back to every level of society. If we cannot eradicate this deadly addiction that started under the guise of play or out of curiosity, all the achievements of our youth will be lost in the labyrinth of this digital casino.

Writer: Jewel Hasan is an Engineer

The article was originally published in the online Bengali edition of The Daily Samakal and has been rewritten for the English version by Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Assistant News Editor