Online gambling in Georgia is not a legal vacuum: organizing gambling or profitable games over the internet requires a strictly defined permit and operates under a dedicated electronic control system for the gambling business. If you plan to organize online games, or already run such a platform, every element of your operation — from the website to the selected person's server — must comply with statutory requirements. On this page we explain what systemic-electronic organization means, which permits are issued, who is barred from participating, and how the electronic control system works in practice.
The legal concept of systemic-electronic organization
The law defines the systemic-electronic organization of gambling and/or profitable games as holding such games in compliance with the requirements established by the law, using the internet, telephone, and/or specially equipped electronic means. The concept covers both ordinary and international organization: under international organization permits, participation is not allowed for citizens of Georgia. In practical terms, this means that a "foreign" online license does not lawfully support operations targeting Georgian players. Gambling games may be organized only in a casino, a slot machine hall, a gambling club, and/or in systemic-electronic form — any other form of organization is directly prohibited.
The organizer of games is the person holding a permit for organizing gambling and/or profitable games, a permit for systemic-electronic organization, and/or a permit for international systemic-electronic organization. A permit seeker is a person who intends to carry out any activity in this field, including the supply of gambling and/or profitable games. Understanding these categories matters because obligations attach to each of them, and the electronic control system monitors compliance for every permit holder.
Types of permits and conditions of issuance
A wide range of activities is subject to permitting, including: arranging a casino, a totalizator, a slot machine hall, lotto, bingo, or a gambling club; systemic-electronic organization and international organization of casino, slot machine, and totalizator games; and the supply of gambling and/or profitable games. These permits are issued only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia. A permit for international systemic-electronic organization of casino, slot machine, or totalizator games is issued without the underlying physical-facility permit, while an ordinary organization permit may be issued both with and without such a base permit.
For online operators the following rule is decisive: under each permit for systemic-electronic organization and international organization, only one website organized under a single internet domain name is allowed. Changing the internet address and/or the location of the operation (place of management) is possible only through amendments in the sectoral permit registry. Also note two direct prohibitions: it is prohibited to organize gambling or profitable games in systemic-electronic form at an internet service facility (in effect, an internet café ban), and it is prohibited to place computers or similar electronic devices at a facility designated for gambling for the purpose of participation in games.
Permit terms and restrictions on operation
Permits for arranging a casino, totalizator, or slot machine hall, and permits for systemic-electronic organization and international organization of casino, slot machine, and totalizator games, are issued for a term of five years; a permit for arranging stimulatory draws is issued for one year; permits for arranging lotto and bingo and for the supply of gambling and/or profitable games are issued for five years. Permits issued on the basis of another permit remain in force for the remaining term of that underlying permit. If the activity under a physical-facility permit is suspended or terminated, activity under the online permit derived from it is allowed for the remainder of the current quarter, but for no more than sixty calendar days; in each subsequent quarter, such activity is allowed only if the physical facility has resumed functioning for at least thirty days. When the underlying permit is cancelled, the dependent online permit is cancelled as well.
The law also restricts who may hold a permit: where recognized tax arrears exist, a permit is not issued; transferring a permit to another person is prohibited; and a permit may not be issued to a person whose representative, founder/partner, or beneficial owner has been convicted, or has a criminal record, for a deliberate economic offense — including an offense in the sphere of financial activity — or for a deliberate grave or especially grave crime, unless the conviction has been expunged or extinguished. In gambling games, the possibility of winning in kind is not allowed — winnings must be monetary. Upon declaration of a state of emergency or martial law, the government may introduce a different regime for these licensed activities.
Player protection: dependent and prohibited persons
Online gambling law places strong emphasis on player protection. A person dependent on gambling is a natural person with an irresistible desire for, and dependence on, gambling and/or profitable games — including systemic-electronically organized games — whose data has been entered into the list of dependent persons. This list is a database into which a person's data is entered either by court order or upon the person's own application to the Revenue Service. In other words, a person may voluntarily recognize themselves as dependent and thereby protect themselves from participation.
The list of prohibited persons is a separate database covering persons barred from participating in gambling and profitable games (except stimulatory draws). For the purposes of the law, a prohibited person is: a person employed in a budgetary organization (including civil and public servants and persons holding state-political and political positions); a person employed in a national regulatory body; a person employed at the National Bank of Georgia; and a member of a family registered in the unified database of socially vulnerable families. Breaching this regime on the organizer's side is treated as a violation of permit conditions.
The electronic control system and the selected person
The cornerstone of online gambling oversight is the electronic control system for the gambling business. It is a system implemented through the selected person on the basis of the regulating legislation, aimed at monitoring the permit holder's compliance with permit conditions and statutory requirements. Under a contract with the Revenue Service, the selected person must implement the system and ensure its operation in accordance with the rules established by the Minister of Finance. The contract is concluded for a term of no more than fifteen years, and the selected person's server must be located on the territory of Georgia. The system monitors compliance by holders of all relevant permits — physical-facility operators and online organizers alike.
Where a permit seeker or holder uses a system created with its own resources, the selected person must verify that system against the standards established by a legal act of the Minister of Finance and must issue an authorization certificate. The authorization certificate confirms the conformity of the game and of certain essential products/services to the standards introduced by the Minister of Finance. The permit seeker itself pays the fees for the initial examination of the online gaming system, for the issuance of the authorization certificate, for equipment and control/monitoring systems and their installation, and for the operation of the control system. The government may also impose additional requirements on organizers and suppliers — failure to meet them is treated as a violation of permit conditions.
Essential products and suppliers
The technological foundation of online gambling is captured in the statutory concept of essential products/services. It includes: the random number generation platform (RNG) — a program generating random numbers; the jackpot platform — the highest category of play and the rules for determining and distributing its initial and growing amounts; the gaming platform, including the server or servers on which the outcome of the game is directly determined; the player base; the financial base/system; the management system — the internal management and/or control system of the organizer and the supplier; and gaming machines. All these components are described in the law because each of them can influence the outcomes of gambling and profitable games.
The supply of gambling and/or profitable games means the direct or indirect provision of essential products/services to a game organizer or to a person outside Georgia, on the basis of the corresponding permit. A supplier must pay the service fee of the Revenue Service. An organizer receiving games or essential products from a supplier must, before acceptance, require the supplier's supply permit and must not use products not supplied by a permit holder. The specific amounts of fines and other sanctions are not established by these provisions — liability measures are determined by other norms of Georgian legislation, while a breach is treated as a violation of permit conditions.
Planning a lawful online operation
The practical checklist follows directly from these rules: first register as an entrepreneur in Georgia and resolve any tax arrears, since permits are refused where such arrears exist; then determine the desired permit type, keeping in mind that each online permit covers only a single internet domain; engage with the selected person to have your system examined and to obtain the authorization certificate; and finally, ensure that persons on the dependent and prohibited lists are barred from participation. This chain is where the lawfulness of your operation lives — skipping any of these stages creates risk at both the permit and the liability level.