Georgia Will Ban Under 25s, Public Sector Employees From Gambling

Georgia's Ministry of Finance is going to be banning gamblers under the age of 25 from betting, while also including public sector employees from the activity as well.

The change came as part of an executive order signed by the country's prime minister Irakli Gharbashvili and will go into effect on July 1st. The order will ban 1,503,989 Georgians from gambling, with all people under 25, those who work in the public sector, and those with criminal records. People that have previously self-excluded from gambling are included on that registry.

The change applies to both online and land-based gambling, and operators will be compelled to submit player databases to ensure compliance with the blocked players. Operators who don't comply can be fined up to GEL 30,000.

In addition to the bans, the government will raise gambling taxes, with operators paying 15% (up from 10%), while player withdrawals will be 5% (up from 2%).