Online casinos could be outlawed in Georgia

Georgia could be set to prohibit online casino operators from offering their services in the Caucasus nation. On 22 November, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili called for the prohibition of online casinos citing gambling-related harm and financial losses from the country’s economy as his key two reasons for exploring the policy. Gharibashvili said more than GEL1bn (£240m) was being exported out of Georgia via online casinos and that the sector severely impacted younger and poorer demographics. According to local press, Gharibashvili said: “The issue of gambling business and online casinos worries each citizen very much. “This is the money of the country’s poor population. Ninety-nine percent of the individuals who are engaged with online gambling are socially vulnerable,” he added. Gharibashvili has indicated that a two-phase approach should be undertaken which would impose restrictions on the industry. The first would see the introduction of an age limit for accessing online casinos, as well as an outright ban on advertising and marketing. The second would see online casinos become fully prohibited in Georgia. Georgia’s Minister of Finance Lasha Khutsishvili is responsible for carrying out the first phase and will be charged with drafting an initial bill that would see 18-24-year-olds banned from playing online casino and under 25s banned from land-based casinos. However, there is no current indication as to when the first draft of the bill is expected to be published. In fact, in 2018 the Ministry of Finance proposed an age limit increase to 25 for access to online and land-based casinos, but it has failed to become official law since. Speaking to EGR, 4H Agency consultant Sophia Balashvili said: “Any restrictive developments in the legislation should be proposed in the most reasonable and well-balanced way. “Total prohibition of the online casino vertical may lead to the increase of illegal gambling and that is not what the government is looking for. “Any major changes to the gambling legislation should be developed in cooperation with principal stakeholders of the market,” she added.