The Legal Basis of the Casino Permit
Under the Georgian Law on Gambling Games, the conduct of any type of gambling and/or profit-making game, the organization of such games in systemic-electronic form, and the supply of gambling and/or profit-making games all require a permit issued in accordance with the Georgian Law on Licenses and Permits. Article 5 of the law permits only the organization of lotteries, gambling and/or profit-making games expressly envisaged by that law, together with the distribution of their tickets. Conducting these activities without a permit, or failing to observe permit conditions, constitutes a violation of the law and triggers the liability defined by Georgian legislation. You should also note the sectoral prohibitions embedded in the same provision: issuing a permit for promotional games aimed at the rapid and effective sale of tobacco products, tobacco accessories and/or devices intended for tobacco consumption is prohibited, and using such products as prizes in promotional games or lotteries, or distributing them through lotteries, gambling and profit-making games, is likewise banned. In addition, persons registered in Georgia, whether natural or legal, may not organize the games envisaged by this law on any type of floating object located in the internal maritime waters or the territorial sea of Georgia.
The Issuing Authority and the Control Regime
Under Article 7 of the law, the Revenue Service issues permits for organizing gambling and profit-making games, amends and revokes them, and enters the relevant data into the sectoral permit registry. The Revenue Service is authorized to verify the reliability of the documents submitted by the permit applicant and their compliance with the requirements of the law and, in the case of a casino, additionally with the technical requirements established for casinos by the same law. Control over the observance of permit conditions may be imposed at any time during a calendar year and without any quantitative limitation; the inspection procedure is established by a joint order of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Internal Affairs. For control purposes the Revenue Service may, through a selected person, introduce an electronic control system and monitor compliance with permit conditions both within inspections and in ongoing mode, including retroactively for the period of a currently valid permit once a violation is detected. Fines for breach of permit conditions are imposed by the Revenue Service or by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the administration of these fines follows the rules of the Georgian Tax Code. As the permit holder you must pay the fine within 30 calendar days from the delivery of the individual administrative-legal act imposing it. The Revenue Service also maintains the list of dependent persons and the list of prohibited persons; data in the list of dependent persons are entered for a term of 5 years, on the basis of the person's own application or a judge's order, and only data concerning Georgian citizens may be entered.