Georgia’s newly proposed gambling laws have proved controversial, with one expert challenging the proposed £1.6m gambling license fee.
Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, has signed a package of reforms to the country’s gambling laws, including new rules restricting online casinos to land-based organizations.
The reforms are the biggest shakeup to the country’s gambling laws since 2021, when Georgia sought to overhaul its regulatory system over fears of safer gambling as the country rose to become a land-based gambling hub.
On that occasion, the Parliament of Georgia voted to raise the gambling age to 25, increase taxes on online gambling companies by 70%, and ban TV advertising and ban public officials and self-excluded from gambling.
Ring-fenced Casino Licensing
Under the new rules, the country’s ten land-based casino companies – including the top three, Adjara Group, Crystalbet and Iveria – would be allowed to hold an online casino license.
Similarly, online slots offerings would be limited to retail slot machines – as would sports betting to physical bookmakers.
the new rules are intended to boost the domestic industry
While additional online-only licenses are now available, the government is charging a fee of €1.6 million per license holder per year.
Alex Szilaghi, President of Szilaghi Consulting, says that given the region’s size, this was a hefty fee.
“In my opinion, that’s a huge amount of money for Georgia – let alone any country within the EU,” he says. “They wanted to enable local businesses to grow and create a level playing field for everyone.
“These changes will allow land based casinos to have online casinos and it will also allow the companies interested in online business to get the license basically just for the online casino.”
Push for safer gambling
Garibashvili said the reforms would aim to tackle harm from gambling, which has become a problem in recent years, particularly among younger demographics – which was the rationale for raising the gambling age to 25 in 2021.
Szilaghi also argues that the country’s gambling law is designed to ensure that licensing requirements are properly followed.
“Current efforts are also aimed at blocking illegal gambling, as Georgia is one of the countries overrun by this activity,” he continues. “They needed a legal structure to be able to block that and allow these companies to come in legally by applying for a license.”
Last month, the Georgian city of Batumi announced that it would increase gaming table and slot machine fees – a move that drew criticism from the local industry.
