Government Turns its Attention to Online Casinos

The Parliament of Georgia once again raised the issue of the dangerous impact of online casinos and the question of their closure. This time the initiative belongs to new Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. At present there are no specific details about future regulations, but the government intends to study the issue in detail.

According to PM Kvirikashvili, the absence of any regulations for the online casino business has resulted in serious negative consequences for the population of Georgia. The authorities plan to thoroughly explore the online casinos market in the near future and then begin to work out the necessary regulations. The PM claimed that if the regulations are not entirely effective, the government would consider more stringent measures. However, it is unknown whether, by this, PM Kvirikashvili was referring to the possibility of their complete shut down or not.

“I want to figure out what options we have and how far it’s possible to implement them in Georgia. If it’s physically impossible, then we’ll think about more stringent measures,” he said. “By all means we must prevent further destructive impact on citizens by the online casino market.”

Despite the fact that gambling in general is recognized as one of the most pernicious and intractable addictions, the PM highlighted that future regulations will concern only online casinos. “In this issue we separate offline casinos. New regulations will not touch them, as their existence is important for the tourism and hospitality industry,” noted Kvirikashvili.

The main reason for the creation of the regulations named the easy availability for juveniles to online games and casinos. According to some reports, the number of people using online casinos in Georgia is increasing by the year. They are used by around 85% of all players in the gambling industry, 70% of which are minors. If you’re a big fan of Casumo Casino then you’ll love our list of Casumo sister sites. These are all sites that offer a similar gaming experience to the one provided by Casumo.

The majority of the population of Georgia actively supports the Prime Minister’s proposal, which indicates that there are serious problems in this area. On the other hand, if the closure of the online casinos becomes a reality, it will be considered by some as a hard interference in business by the Government. However, the main task of the Government to look after the welfare of its citizens will most likely be the saving grace in such an argument.

The initiative to restrict access to online casinos was first sounded at the beginning of 2015, though at the time the Government did not support it, arguing that gambling makes a significant contribution to the budget.

Eka Karsaulidze