A lottery in Georgia is not an ordinary commercial activity: its organization, the distribution of its tickets and the conduct of the draw all operate inside a strict statutory framework created by the Law of Georgia on Lotteries, Gambling and Other Profitable Games. This page explains the three pillars of the lottery organizer's regime in detail — the mandatory permit, the unconditional obligation to hold the draw even when tickets have not been fully sold, and the grounds of liability for violating the law. Legal.ge helps you apply these requirements correctly, so that your game rests on a lawful foundation from the very beginning and the risk of sanctions stays under control.
The permit requirement — the starting condition of lawful organization
The first paragraph of the fifth article of the law begins exactly with this question: on the territory of Georgia, the conduct of all kinds of gambling and/or profitable games, the organization of gambling and/or profitable games in systematic-electronic form, and the supply of gambling and/or profitable games require a permit in accordance with the Law of Georgia on Licenses and Permits. In practical terms this means that a lottery organizer may not conduct the game, distribute its tickets or enter into contractual relations with players until the relevant permit has been obtained.
Conducting gambling and/or profitable games without a permit, organizing them in systematic-electronic form or supplying them without authorization, as well as non-fulfillment of permit conditions, is considered a violation of the law and triggers liability defined by Georgian legislation, except for the case provided for by the third paragraph of the same article, which we discuss below. The second paragraph of the article draws the boundaries of permissible activity even more clearly: on the territory of Georgia only the organization of the lottery, gambling and/or profitable games contemplated by this law, their organization in systematic-electronic form and the distribution of their tickets are allowed.