By introducing more overly harsh fines for violating licensing conditions, Georgia will tighten up its gambling regulatory framework.
With this goal in mind, the Government of Georgia has submitted amendments to “On Arranging Lotteries, Gambling And Prize Games” which would result in significantly higher penalties for all licensees operating within the country. For example, casinos will now be fined 20,000 GEL (from 7,000) and slot salons will now be fined 10,000 GEL (from 1,000). A similar structure of increased penalties for clubs and online or system operators is in effect as well.
The government stated:
In many cases, it is economically more beneficial for a license holder to violate the licensing conditions and then pay the fine, rather than fully comply with the established requirements.
Regulators have stated that the existing penalty levels currently do not deter violations and that many operators are willing to take the risk of violating the law and paying fines instead of complying fully with them.
The draft amendments prepared by the Ministry of Finance will be reviewed by Parliament during upcoming sessions over the next few weeks.
