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Lithuania’s parliament (Seimas) has approved changes to its gambling law which are expected to drastically increase the size of fines and introduce a range of new requirements.
Amendments to the Law on Gambling XIVP-3843 (2) were approved on November 7 and include a series of significant changes, including raising the gambling age limit to 21 years old.
Finance minister Gintarė Skaistė said: “From now on, gambling organisers will be obliged by law to identify gamblers who are on the verge of problem gambling and to stop their gambling in a timely manner.
“During the entire term, we worked on expanding safeguards and making the gambling system more transparent, so the decisions made today, which will help reduce the negative consequences not only for gamblers but also for their relatives, will also contribute to this direction.”
Currently, fines are capped at €25,000 or €50,000 for repeat offenders, which “do not deter gambling organisers from committing violations”, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Instead, fines will be calculated from 2 to 4 percent of the offender's gross annual income of the previous calendar year, depending on the nature of the violation.
Fines related to a series of other misdemeanours such as paying out online winnings, authorised capital requirements, advertising or responsible gambling breaches will be set at 3 to 5 percent of gross annual income.
Repeat violations will result in either a 6 to 8 or 8 to 10 percent gross annual income fine, respectively.
This is expected to increase the average total fine to an estimated €700,000.
Land-based venues will be required to have a qualified employee to identify potential problem gamblers and offer them a cooling-off break or tell them to stop gambling.
Online operators will require a certified gambling platform that can record players' identities and monitor their gambling behaviour, including the amount of money and time they spend.
Additionally, the platform will record the actions taken by operators to implement responsible gambling measures and send them to LAKIS (Slot Machine Control Information System), which is overseen by the Gambling Supervision Service, at least every 30 days.
A spokesperson for the Seimas confirmed that “most of the new provisions on gambling regulation will enter into force on November 1, 2025”.
“Articles 1 and 3 of this Gambling Act will enter into force on 1 December 2024 (Purpose and intent of the Act). Articles 11 and 12 of this Law will enter into force on May 1, 2026 (connection of platforms to the system),” the Seimas told Vixio. GamblingCompliance.
Lithuania has increasingly been exploring gambling industry restrictions over the past year in a drive to reduce problem gambling in the country, including possibly banning gambling advertising.
Additionally, on June 25, 2024, the Seimas adopted amendments to increase the gambling tax rate to 22 percent from 20 percent on January 1, 2025.
