Websites that provide, facilitate, advertise or promote remote gambling services will be blocked from Monday when the Remote Gambling Act (RGA) comes into effect, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Wednesday.

In a statement, MHA said payment transactions related to unlawful remote gambling activities will also be blocked.

The RGA was passed in Singapore's Parliament on Oct 7 last year.

The objectives of regulating remote gambling are to maintain law and order and to minimise the potential harm of remote gambling, especially to young persons and other vulnerable persons, it said in a statement.

Under the Act, it is an offence for a person to gamble remotely with unauthorised operators, facilitate others to do so, or to provide unauthorised remote gambling services.

Following concerns expressed that the Act would cover all social games and therefore affect the development of the gaming industry in Singapore, in a separate press release, the city-state's Media Development Authority (MDA) reiterated that the Act does not cover games which do not, as part of the game design, enable players to receive money or money’s worth consequent to the outcome of that game.

The Act thus will not cover social games such as Farmville and Candy Crush Saga in their current forms.

However, it will prohibit casino-style games which give players a chance to win money or real-world merchandise.

Following the passage of the Act, MDA has met and discussed the provisions in the Act with members of the gaming industry.

It noted that the Act will not impede the development of legitimate social media gaming businesses and will continue working with the gaming industry to ensure its continued growth and development.