About This Service
When your online gaming system — a platform, a random number generator, or a totalisator system built with your own resources — is updated, migrated to a new version, or re-architected, the law of Georgia on the organisation of lotteries, gambling and profitable games treats that event as far more than a technical episode. Article 36 obliges the Ministry of Finance of Georgia to establish control over compliance with every point of this law and of the rules of play (regulations), while Article 36-1 imposes a special regime on the electronic control system for the gambling business and on the authorisation certificate. Restoring compliance after a system update runs precisely along the axis of these two articles.
This service is designed for organisers of games and providers of gambling or profitable games who, after an update, must re-examine the legal status of their system. We determine whether the new version of your system fits the statutory scheme, whether it requires renewed examination and a fresh authorisation certificate, and we accompany your interaction with the selected person — with no invented steps: everything we map onto your situation follows directly from Article 36 and Article 36-1.
The Legal Framework: The Selected Person and the Electronic Control System
Under the first paragraph of Article 36-1, on the basis of a contract concluded between the Revenue Service and the selected person, the selected person is obliged to implement the electronic control system for the gambling business in accordance with the rule established by the Minister of Finance of Georgia, and to ensure its operation. The practical conclusion follows: technical control of the online gambling business by the state is neither abstract nor arbitrary — it operates through a concrete system, and your updated platform must remain in compliance with that system’s requirements.
The law also spells out the infrastructure of this scheme: the contract between the Revenue Service and the selected person is concluded for a term of not more than 15 years; their rights and obligations are determined by that contract; and the selected person’s server must be located on the territory of Georgia. These three details are fixed by the third, fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article 36-1 and must be borne in mind even when taking technical decisions, because a server located in Georgia is one of the conditions for the lawful operation of the entire scheme.
Under the sixth paragraph of Article 36-1, the Minister of Finance of Georgia establishes the requirements applicable to the electronic control system for the gambling business. That subordinate act constitutes the technical baseline against which your updated system will be assessed. The law itself does not spell out the detailed content of those requirements — it delegates them to the minister’s normative act, which is why any technical specification you receive must always be compared against the act currently in force, not against an old version remembered from past projects.
The Authorisation Certificate: Who Examines the System and Who Issues the Document
The eighth paragraph of Article 36-1 addresses the situation where, in the system-electronic organisation of a totalisator, a licence applicant or licence holder uses a system created with its own resources. In that case, in accordance with the standards and requirements introduced or established by a legal act of the Minister of Finance of Georgia, the selected person must examine that system and must issue an authorisation certificate. The nature of recertification is visible right here: if your own system has been updated and the new version has actually been put into operation, lawful standing is restored in the same way — through a renewed examination of the system by the selected person against the standards established by the minister’s act.
Under the ninth paragraph of Article 36-1, the rule and conditions for issuing the authorisation certificate are established by a legal act of the Minister of Finance of Georgia. This means that the formal procedure for commissioning an examination, the written requirements, and the details concerning the application and supporting materials are not set out in the law itself — they are defined by that act. Our task is to have your position prepared precisely and in good time within this procedural layer, so that the examination of the updated system is not drawn out and does not escalate into a licensing dispute.
After an Update: The Scope of Control and the Licensing Risk
The second paragraph of Article 36-1 defines what the electronic control system for the gambling business monitors: compliance by organisers operating in system-electronic form and by totalisator organisers with licensing conditions and the requirements of Georgian legislation. The amended wording of this paragraph, in force since 1 June 2024, frames the scope of control through the circle of permit holders: holders of permits for a casino, a hall of gaming machines, a totalisator, and the system-electronic forms of organising those games are controlled precisely through this system.
The seventh paragraph of Article 36-1 is particularly significant: the Government of Georgia is authorised to impose additional requirements and obligations on the organiser of games and on the provider of gambling or profitable games for the purpose of implementing and operating the electronic control system, and non-fulfilment of those requirements is deemed a violation of licensing conditions. Hence the central message of this service: operating an updated but unverified system is not a technical glitch — it places the operator and the provider directly in the risk zone of a violation of licensing conditions.
Article 36 completes this picture with the general control basis: the Ministry of Finance is obliged to establish control over compliance with the requirements of every point of both the law itself and the rules of play (regulations). Accordingly, the object of inspection is not exhausted by the requirements of the electronic system — the assessment extends to every point, and preparation after an update must take this full spectrum into account.
Fees and What the Law Leaves to Other Norms
Under the tenth paragraph of Article 36-1, the licence applicant or licence holder is obliged to pay fees to the selected person: for the initial study (examination) of the online gaming system of the licence applicant, the organiser of games and the provider of gambling or profitable games, and for the issuance of the corresponding authorisation certificate; for the equipment and the control or monitoring system to be placed with the organiser, the provider and its contractors or agents, as well as for its installation; for the operation of the electronic control system (the operating fee); and for the provision of a terminal to the totalisator organiser.
The amounts, however, are not named in the law: under the eleventh paragraph of Article 36-1, the types, amounts, periodicity and procedure of payment of the fees payable to the selected person are determined by a legal act of the Government of Georgia. The same logic extends to procedural details: the triggers for examination and certification, deadlines and the sequence of steps after an update are established by acts of the Minister of Finance and by the selected person’s procedure. We do not invent these details — we verify their versions currently in force and align your updated system exactly against those rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who exercises control over an updated system?
Under Article 36, control is established by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia over every point of the law and the rules of play (regulations); in the online segment that control operates through the electronic control system for the gambling business established by Article 36-1, whose implementation and operation are ensured by the selected person under a contract with the Revenue Service.
When is an authorisation certificate required and who issues it?
Under the eighth paragraph of Article 36-1, where a licence applicant or holder organising a totalisator in system-electronic form uses a system created with its own resources, the selected person examines conformity with the standards established by the Minister’s act and is obliged to issue an authorisation certificate; the rule and conditions of issuance are established by the Minister’s legal act.
What are the consequences of not meeting the control-system requirements?
Under the seventh paragraph of Article 36-1, non-fulfilment of the requirements and obligations established for the purpose of implementing and operating the electronic control system is deemed a violation of licensing conditions, which creates a direct licensing risk for the permit holder and leaves the operation of an updated, unverified system without any excuse.
How much does a renewed examination and certification cost?
The law names no amounts: the tenth paragraph of Article 36-1 only defines the categories of fees — the initial study, issuance of the certificate, equipment and monitoring, and operation — while the amounts, periodicity and procedure of payment are determined by a legal act of the Government of Georgia.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Every certification situation is individual: one update fits within an existing authorisation, while another requires a renewed examination of the system. We examine the legal nature of the changes to your platform or random number generator, compare them against the requirements of Article 36 and Article 36-1, prepare the documentation to be submitted to the selected person, and defend your interests against the qualification of a licensing violation. Contact us on Legal.ge and receive an exact, law-based assessment of your specific case.