22 Feb, 2022
In December 2021, the Government of Georgia imposed new regulations on the gambling sector, in particular, according to the decision of the Parliament, the right to play in both physical and online casinos was prohibited to persons under the age of 25, people without social security and civil servants. It is about banning the right to play for approximately 1 million citizens. The tax fee has been increased in the direction of online games. From March 1, 2022, gambling advertising will also be banned. Also, the list of "gambling addicts" will come into force, where citizens will enter both by their own will and by court decision. Dependent persons will be prohibited from playing in Georgian gambling systems.
A few days before the implementation of this regulation, the Ministry of Finance adopted a protocol related to the entry of citizens into the list of "gambling addicts". According to the document, the citizen will be included in this list for 5 years.
The document states:
1. An application for entering one's own data in the list of dependents is submitted to the Revenue Service.
2. The application provided for in the first paragraph of this article must contain the following of the person submitting the application:
a) name and surname;
b) personal number;
c) confirms that he wants his data to be included in the list of dependent persons;
d) the date and signature of the submission of the application.
3. A copy of the identity card of the person submitting the application or the passport of the citizen of Georgia must be attached to the application provided for in the first paragraph of this article. Also, a copy of the authorization document in case the application is submitted through an authorized representative.
4. When registering the submitted application, the authorized employee of the Revenue Service identifies the person submitting the application based on the information available to him.
5. The Revenue Service checks the compliance of the application with the requirements established by this rule, and if the application meets the established requirements, within 5 working days, it enters the data about the person submitting the application into the list of dependents.
6. On the basis of the list of dependent persons, the revenue service provides the organizer of the game, upon his request, only the information regarding the prohibition of participation in the game about each specific person who wants to participate in the game.
The preparation of the list of dependent persons is ensured by the public law legal entity under the governance of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia - the Revenue Service (hereinafter - the Revenue Service)," the document states.
