Estonia to update gambling legislation
The Ministry of Finance says draft Gambling Act amendments will be presented by mid-year.
Estonia.- The Ministry of Finance has announced that it plans to amend articles in Estonia’s Gambling Act of 2008 but says the changes will not mean tighter gambling laws. The amendments will be drafted by Rainer Osanik, head of financial policies and intelligence.
Updating the Estonian parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee, Osanik said draft amendments would be ready for feedback by June. The aim is to implement the new legislation in the first half of 2026.
As for what changes can be expected, Osanik said there would be a review of rules for online game designs and systems after committee members called for measures on in-play mechanics and incentives. Committee Chairman Jaak Aab has raised concerns over research showing an “increase in pre-addiction phases” of gambling.
The Ministry of Finance also intends to expand Estonia’s national gambling self-exclusion scheme, HAMPI, to allow family members to request exclusions for relatives. Currently, players can only be added to the list if they choose to join it voluntarily. The Ministry is interested in allowing courts to mandate inclusion but has concerns that the legal process could put some people off requesting an exclusion.
Despite concerns about minors gambling, Osanik said his current brief did not include plans to address loot boxes or virtual currency purchases in video games. Estonia already has a minimum age of 21 for gambling.
Nor does the Ministry of Finance intend to make more adjustments to gambling tax following last year’s rise in remote gambling tax, Toto tax and games of change tournament tax from 5 to 6 per cent and the increase in lottery sales tax from 18 to 22 per cent. However, Osanik noted that the Ministry would be reviewing feedback on the new tax regime in the forthcoming months.
A fresh attempt to ban gambling adverts in Estonia is also unlikely to be on the agenda. In 2023, the coalition government formed by the Reform Party, Social Democrats and Eesti 200 was minded to prohibit gambling ads on TV and radio, but the opposition rejected the move. The committee asked Osanik about the possibility of reviving the plan, but the minister said political opposition meant that Gambling Act revisions would be limited to clarifying rules on gambling advertising and prohibiting misleading claims, such as suggestions that gambling could solve financial problems.
In other Baltic states, work is advancing in Latvia on planned regulations that would almost completely ban land-based gambling in Riga. The capital’s city council has drafted binding regulations specifying areas where gambling would be prohibited. While not an outright ban, the regulations would restrict gambling to a few small areas.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance has submitted proposed new requirements for remote gambling platforms to the European Commission (EC) for review. Drawn up by the country’s gambling regulator, the LPT, the technical requirements are intended to provide a “general standard for online gambling platforms to operate in Lithuania”. The text outlines rules for IT security, game controls, technical compliance, data management and intellectual property.
