Georgia's 2022 gambling reforms: what changed for operators

Georgia's gambling regime was rewritten in a matter of weeks at the end of 2021, and the new rules applied from the first quarter of 2022. The package reshaped who may play, how operators may market, and how money moves. Later amendments then built a dedicated permit system for online gambling. Here is what each step changed and what it means for the people running an online operation.

The 2022 package at a glance

Parliament passed the amendments to the Law on Organizing Lotteries, Gambling and Prize Games after an expedited process, with a final vote of 82 in favour and one against. The provisions came into force in stages.

• 1 January 2022: restrictions on public employees and recipients of social assistance, and the tax changes.
• 1 March 2022: the minimum age of 25 and the advertising ban.

Minimum age of 25

Before the reform the threshold was 18 for slot halls and online play, and 21 for casinos. The package replaced those limits with a single minimum age of 25 for Georgian citizens. Reporting on the bill noted that foreigners and stateless persons may play from 18.

What it means for operators: age verification becomes a hard gate at registration rather than a tick box. Date of birth must be checked against an identity document before a player can deposit, and the nationality and residency of the player decide which age rule applies. A platform serving both Georgian and international players needs this rule evaluated per player, not per site.

Restricted groups and the Revenue Service lists

The reform barred public employees and recipients of state social assistance from gambling, a group the government put at roughly one million people. The Revenue Service of Georgia was tasked with keeping the lists of persons barred from gambling and of persons addicted to it. The addiction list covers people who registered themselves and people placed on it by a court, and family members can petition a court to have a relative they consider addicted blacklisted.

The 2023 online package extended these concepts expressly to online play, covering people addicted to systemic-electronic games.

What it means for operators: KYC now has a list-screening step. Every registration, and every login for existing accounts, is checked against the restricted and self-restricted lists, with the result logged. Operators that let an ineligible person use their services face fines of GEL 10,000, doubled for repeat violations, which makes an auditable screening trail a commercial necessity as well as a compliance one.

Self-restriction

Players can apply to the Revenue Service to be placed on the list themselves. Once a person is listed, every licensed operator is expected to refuse service to them.

What it means for operators: self-exclusion has to be enforced centrally and in real time, across registration, deposits, bonus issue and CRM. A restricted person must also drop out of every marketing audience immediately.

Advertising ban

From 1 March 2022 gambling advertising was banned on television, on Georgian websites and outdoors, with physical, online and broadcast formats all in scope. The original draft had set 1 January as the start date. The exception is sponsorship: operators may sign sponsorship contracts, mainly in sport, including banners at sports events and on athletes' clothing. A breach of the ad ban carries a GEL 10,000 fine, doubled for repeat offences.

What it means for operators: acquisition shifts toward sponsorship, partnerships, owned channels such as the operator's own site and app, and direct relationships with existing players. Any creative that reaches Georgian audiences through local media or local websites needs a compliance check before it runs.

Payment rules

The package changed the tax base for operators to a 10% tax on gross gaming revenue in place of the earlier profit-based approach, with a 2% tax on winnings, and the combined effect lifted the sector's tax burden by an estimated 65 to 70 percent. On the payment side, Georgian bank-issued cards cannot be used for gambling services registered abroad.

What it means for operators: payment routing is tied to licensing. A Georgian-facing product needs Georgian-licensed operation and local acquiring, and the cashier has to reconcile deposits and withdrawals per player so that tax on winnings and gross gaming revenue reporting come straight out of the ledger.

2023: a dedicated online permit system

The government's online gambling package passed its final hearing on 10 February 2023. It introduced the legal concept of organizing gambling in a systemic-electronic form, which covers games run over the internet, by telephone or on specially designed electronic platforms. Key features:

• A permit is mandatory for systemic-electronic gambling, with separate permits for online casinos, slots and totalizators (sports betting).
• Each permit covers one website under a unique internet domain.
• Annual fees were set at GEL 5,000,000 for an online casino, GEL 1,000,000 for online slots and GEL 100,000 for a totalizator.
• Gambling on sea vessels in Georgia's waters was banned.

What it means for operators: the platform must be built around the licence. One domain per permit means clean separation of brands and products, and the technology partner needs the certification and reporting integrations the Revenue Service expects. Applicants first obtain an authorization certificate from Random Systems Georgia, then apply to the Revenue Service.

2024: tax treatment for operators serving foreign players

Parliament adopted amendments on 27 June 2024, effective 1 December 2024, creating more favourable tax treatment for online operators whose websites target foreign players. Gross gaming revenue from foreign players is taxed at 5%, against 15% for GGR from Georgian players, and permit holders may run two domains, one for Georgian players and one for foreign players. The 5% withholding on player withdrawals applies to Georgian players, while foreign players are exempt.

What it means for operators: player-residency tagging becomes a core data field. The platform has to classify every player, split revenue by that classification, and keep the two domains operationally separate.

2026: the international organization framework

On 25 June 2026 Parliament adopted, at third reading, amendments covering the international organization of gambling in system-electronic form. They define the international organization of casino games, slot games and totalizator (sports betting) games, set up the corresponding licensing regime, and provide for permit conditions, permit duration and supervision. Under the framework, citizens of Georgia may not participate in games organized under it.

What it means for operators: an operator serving international markets from Georgia now sits in a defined licence category, and must geofence and identity-check so that Georgian citizens are kept out of the international product. Strong KYC at the door is what makes that workable.

What a compliant platform needs

1. Identity and age verification before the first deposit, with the age rule driven by nationality.
2. Screening against the Revenue Service restricted and self-restricted lists at registration and on every session.
3. Central self-exclusion that flows through to payments, bonuses and marketing audiences.
4. Ad and creative controls that keep Georgian-facing promotion within the sponsorship exception.
5. Player-level payment and tax reporting, including residency tagging for domain and rate split.

Scalara Labs builds these controls into iGaming platform technology from our Tbilisi hub, so operators can launch with the Georgian rulebook already in the stack.