Georgia advances with gambling ban for under 25s and public sector employees

The Ministry of Finance has updated the electronic register of citizens to comply with new gambling laws.

Georgia.- The Ministry of Finance of Georgia has advised that it has updated Georgia’s electronic register of citizens who are prohibited from gambling ahead of the introduction of new rules. From July 1, the new Code of Administrative Offences will ban public sector employees and all under 25s from gambling both at land-based venues and online.

The new rules, which were issued in an executive order signed by Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, also ban people charged locally with criminal offences from gambling. The Ministry of Finance says that 1,503,989 citizens have been automatically added to the list of people banned from gambling, including all under 25s, all state employees and those with criminal records. Those who have self-excluded from gambling are also included in the list.

Gambling operators will have to submit customer databases for cross-referencing against the register. Fines of up to GEL 30,000 (€10,000) may be issued for breaches.

Georgia’s gambling tax hike

In December, Gharibashvili signed off on an executive order imposing new measures for the gambling sector. They include a hike in taxes on gambling and new compliance measures for Georgia’s ban on under 25s gambling.

The tax rate on gambling profits will rise from 10 to 15 per cent. Meanwhile, a tax on player withdrawals will be raised from 2 to 5 per cent. The hikes are expected to generate an additional GEL 400m (€137m) per year for the state.