Kazakhstan to require reports on players’ gambling activities

Operators will have to submit reports and profiles to the government.

Kazakhstan.- Gambling operators will be required to submit profiles and activity reports on Kazakh players to the tax authorities. The Kazakh Parliament has approved the addition of the new reporting duties to the national Tax Code.

Betting and totalizator operators will need to integrate both hardware and software from the national tax agency in order to automatically report data on the size of bets, losses and winnings. Meanwhile, banks will have to provide data on transactions within a 10-day period, including transfers and the authorisation of transactions with gambling operators.   

Tightening rules for gambling in Kazakhstan

Last month, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports confirmed plans to tighten rules for access to gambling. Vice minister Yerzhan Erkinbayev said the changes would include an increase in the minimum age for gambling from 21 to 25.

He said the move was intended to end gambling addiction among young people and to protect people from debt. The ministry will introduce new administrative duties to monitor the age of customers in venues and will require the police to present policies for handling venues that serve underage customers.

The ministry also plans to restrict access to gambling for people who have overdue loans or other financial obligations. To date, Kazakhstan has no specific legislative framework for gambling at the national level, although the provinces of Almaty and Akmola have been allowed to host state-owned casinos in authorised areas. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for increased consumer protection in the sector.