The General Rule of Liability
The thirty-seventh article of the Law of Georgia on Organizing Lotteries, Gambling and Profitable Games establishes: liability for violation of this law is determined by the legislation of Georgia. The concrete sanctions are distributed among different laws, yet the central knot lies precisely in this law: the non-fulfillment by persons organizing gambling and/or profitable games and supplying games of the requirements established by this law is a violation of permit conditions and entails liability in accordance with the Law on Licenses and Permits.
This qualification is the axis of the whole dispute: any violation — from the rule of paying winnings to video recording — is treated as a violation of permit conditions, which ends with a fine and the risk of suspension or cancellation of the permit. Therefore the defense strategy begins with establishing the exact content of the permit conditions: what was imposed and what is presented as a violation.
The Fine Table by Type of Permit
The article 37-1 of the law lays out the amounts of the fine envisaged by the Law on Licenses and Permits by types of permit: with respect to the holder of a casino organization permit — 20 000 lari; a totalizator — 2 000 lari; a slot machine hall — 10 000 lari; lotto and bingo — 1 000 lari; a promotional game — 1 000 lari; a gambling club — 10 000 lari; a permit for the supply of gambling and/or profitable games — 10 000 lari; systemic-electronic organization permits — 20 000 lari.
The violation of the deadline for paying the permit fee has separate fines: for a casino — 20 000 lari; a totalizator — 10 000 lari; a slot machine hall — 10 000 lari; lotto and bingo — 2 000 lari; a gambling club and supply — 10 000 lari; systemic-electronic permits — 20 000 lari. A separate norm concerns the lottery or game organizer who carries out the transport of funds without a specialized incasso service — 1 000 lari. The forgery of lottery tickets is punished by the legislation.
Sanctions for an Unauthorized Lottery
The article 37-2 establishes a separate regime for lotteries: the organization of a lottery by an unauthorized person entails a fine of 50000 lari, and each subsequent organization — 150000 lari. For these actions the unauthorized person is fined by the Revenue Service, while the procedure and conditions of fining are determined by an order of the minister of finance.
By the same article, the Revenue Service is authorized to impose control over the fulfillment by the holder of the exclusive lottery right of the conditions defined by the contract with the Ministry of Finance — the state of fulfillment may be inspected at any time, and the lottery organizer is obliged to provide the information necessary for control.
The Pillars of a Defense Strategy
Upon receiving a fine act, the defense rests on several pillars. The first is the verification of the qualification: whether the presented fact genuinely corresponds to the requirement whose violation it is assessed to be, and whether the corresponding fine amount is correctly selected by type of permit. The second is deadlines: the payment period begins from the handing over of the act, and its violation is a separate risk.
The third is procedural positioning: the procedure of inspection is established by an act of the minister of finance, and a violation of that procedure is reflected on the results of the inspection as well. The fourth is the factual material: video recording, the database of winnings registration and permit documentation are often precisely the evidence that works against the accusation. Each of these pillars is a separate block to be checked, and their totality decides the outcome of the dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What fine faces the holder of a casino permit?
For violation of permit conditions — 20 000 lari; for violation of the fee payment deadline — also 20 000 lari. For systemic-electronic permits the same amounts apply — 20 000 lari in both cases.
And smaller permits?
For lotto, bingo and promotional game organizers the fine is 1 000 lari; for a totalizator — 2 000 lari; for a hall, a club and supply — 10 000 lari. The fines for fee deadline violations are established separately.
What happens with an unauthorized lottery?
The first organization — a fine of 50000 lari, each subsequent one — 150000 lari. The fining is carried out by the Revenue Service under the procedure established by an order of the minister of finance.
Where does the defense begin?
With the verification of the qualification and the fine amount, the calculation of deadlines and the assessment of the inspection procedure; on the factual side, video recording and the winnings database often protect the operator.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team builds the operator's defense in permit disputes: we will examine the act and its grounds, verify the qualification and amount, and design the procedural position aimed at reducing or appealing the fine.
Contact us through Legal.ge — a fine is better met with legal analysis from the outset than after the deadlines have passed.