Review your content's performance and reach.
Become your target audience’s go-to resource for today’s hottest topics.
Understand your clients’ strategies and the most pressing issues they are facing.
Keep a step ahead of your key competitors and benchmark against them.
Questions? Please contact [email protected]
The definitions concerning the gambling are provided in Article 1 of the Latvian Law on Gambling and Lotteries (the Law). The following gambling activities are permitted in the Republic of Latvia: slot machine games, roulette (cylindrical game), card games, dice games, bets, totaliser, bingo and game of chance on the phone.2
Gambling is defined as a game in which a natural person may acquire a prize fully or partly dependent on chance or previously unknown circumstances, by placing a bet. A game on a gaming machine with a free game as the only prize, as well as a game on a gaming machine with a prize in kind (with the exception of cash prizes) up to €15 are not considered as gambling.
Bingo is a gambling in which the player may acquire a prize by guessing random combinations of numbers from preset combinations of numbers and in which the amount of the prize depends on the drawn or guessed combination of numbers and the total sum of the deposited bets.
A wager is gambling in which a player participates by paying a participation fee (a bet) and by forecasting the likelihood of an event, and in which the amount of the prize depends on the accuracy of the player's forecast, the deposited bet and the coefficient for calculating the prize, specified in the rules of the game.
Interactive gambling is a gambling in which the player may participate by using electronic communication services. Interactive lottery is defined as a lottery on a nationwide scale in which the player may participate by using electronic communication services.
A lottery or raffle is a game that has the nature of an agreement of chance in which the prize acquired by the participant is fully or partially random.
A dice game is gambling in which the prize depends on the rolled dice number and the win rate defined by the game rules and is not equipped with a special electronic programme for controlling the game and determining the amount of the prize.
A card game is gambling in which the prize depends on the dealt cards (combination thereof) and the win rate defined by the game rules and is not equipped with a special electronic programme for controlling the game and determining the amount of the prize.
A card and dice game table is an industrially manufactured table with an equipped place for the dealer, betting boxes for the players and a playing surface.
Roulette (cylindrical game) is gambling in which the prize depends on the combination of numbers, symbols or other signs determined by means of a rotating device, as well as on the deposited bet and the win rate defined by the game rules, and is not equipped with a special electronic programme for controlling the game and determining the amount of the prize.
A roulette, card and dice bonus game is a game derived directly from the gambling rules, which upon the onset of certain conditions ensures additional winning possibilities, excluding any lottery elements.
Betting is defined as gambling in which the player participates by depositing a bet and forecasting the occurrence of a single event or multiple events, the possibility of an event or not happening or anything that may turn out to be true or false and in which the prize depends on the total sum of the deposited bets, the win rate and the results of the forecast. It is prohibited to operate betting for events that have already taken place or events known to one of the betting parties or to both parties.
A game of chance via the telephone is gambling in which the results partly or fully depend upon chance and in which the player participates by answering a question or otherwise according to the game rules, using a telephone and paying an entry fee according to the premium rate tariff determined by the game operator.3
There are different kinds of lotteries prescribed under the scope of Latvian gambling law:
Gambling and lotteries may be organised in Latvia only after receipt of the relevant gambling or lottery licences. Only the games of chance, lotteries and additional games referred to in the Law are permitted in Latvia.
Gambling is supervised by the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Authority (the Authority). A gambling organiser may be any capital company registered in Latvia. The state lotteries shall be operated by a state capital company whose capital is totally state-owned and whose stocks are not subject to alienation or privatisation. The state-owned stock company is Latvijas Loto. However, local lotteries can be organised by any capital companies registered in the Register of Enterprises of Latvia.5
Gambling is regulated and licensed nationally by the Authority. Only in order to receive the permit for opening a casino, gaming hall, bingo hall, betting or betting place and organise the relevant gambling in specific premises, the gambling organiser shall submit an application to the local government.
The Authority blocks illegal gambling sites and blacklists them. So far the Authority has blacklisted more than 1,500 gambling domains. In general, the Authority is stricter with local gambling suppliers than with the ones who are outside the jurisdiction.
Financial institutions and internet service providers (ISPs) must forward the names of Latvian citizens who attempt to transact with unauthorised gambling sites. Individuals caught attempting to commit these acts will henceforth face administrative fines of up to €350 per incident.
Latvia gained full independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The country's gambling industry was largely unregulated before this time. In 1998, government officials here established the first true set of gambling laws, named the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Authority.
That year, the government created the Control Department to oversee the gambling industry. This group collects tax fees from gaming operators. The Licensing and Financial Analysis Division of the government is responsible for granting licences to casino operators in the country.
The same set of gambling laws remained in place for several years. In 2005, Latvia launched the Gambling and Lotteries Law. This created a new framework for both land-based and online gambling companies to legally operate inside the country.
Thus, all the basic legal framework referred to gambling in Latvia was set out in the Law on Gambling and Lotteries. Gambling fees and taxes are regulated by the separate Laws, the Law on Lottery and Gambling Fee and Tax and the Law on Personal Income Tax.
Gambling in Latvia is regulated by the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Authority in accordance with The Cabinet and its stipulated procedures, as well as with the State Revenue Service (procedures laid down in the Law on the State Revenue Service), and with the police (procedures laid down in the Law on Police).
The Authority implements state policy in the organisation of gambling and lotteries, performs licensing, supervision and control of gambling and lottery organisers, as well as gambling service providers, develops draft regulatory enactments concerning the organisation of gambling and lotteries, ensures systematic accounting and statistical analysis of the gambling and lotteries market, registers gambling machines and equipment and provides state and local government institutions with the information necessary for the administration of the gambling and lottery tax, ensures the operation of the unified gaming machine control and monitors the system by using online data exchange with gambling organisers and maintains the self-restricted persons register.
The legal system distinguishes between remote and premises-based gambling. Remote gambling is defined as interactive gambling, and the player must participate in it by using electronic communication services in order it to be referred as interactive one.
Gambling may be organised only in casinos, gaming halls, bingo halls and betting or betting places, if the relevant licence of the gambling venue has been obtained.
A casino, a gaming hall, or a bingo hall is a place for organising gambling that is marked in the technical inventory plan of a building as a constructively separated room or several interconnected rooms. A casino is specially equipped for the organisation of slot machines, roulette (cylindrical games), card and dice games and must have at least 10 gaming tables, if the casino is located in Riga, or five gaming tables, if the casino is located outside Riga.6
It is prohibited to install and operate roulette (cylindrical games), card and dice game tables outside the casino. All gambling equipment located in a casino shall be owned by the capital company that has received the licence for the relevant gambling venue.
A gaming hall must have at least 20 gaming machines installed and operated. Only gaming machines owned by a capital company or purchased on the basis of a financial leasing agreement with the relevant issued licence may be installed in the gambling hall.7
Gaming machines may be installed and operated only in casinos and gambling halls. They may be operated only if they are interconnected in a single network of a gaming machine control and monitoring system, ensuring online data exchange with the Authority.
The premises for a betting or a wagering shop are the gambling premises marked in the building's technical inventory plan as a space or part of that space where bets for betting or wagering are accepted.
An online gambling operator can lawfully provide its services to a customer located in Latvia only if it has a valid gambling licence. There are two types of gambling licences that are available to the operators:
The organisation of gambling through electronic communications services shall be deemed to be the organisation of games of chance in which participants perform any activities necessary for participation in those games by electronic communications services.
It is permitted to organise slot machine games, roulettes (cylindrical games), card games, dice games, bingo, wagering, betting and games of chance by telephone (i.e., interactive gambling) through electronic communication services. It is permitted to accept bets on betting or betting through electronic communications services. The total value of winnings in interactive roulette (cylindrical games), card or dice games may not be less than 80 per cent of the total bets placed.
The organisation of interactive gambling and the acceptance of bets is permitted only after the receipt of the relevant licence issued by the Authority.8
There is a separate licence for the specific operations of the software providers (B2B) – live dealer studios located in the territory of Latvia.
Gambling machines and equipment, as well as gaming machine game programs that have been registered and certified may be installed and operated in Latvia. Each game, gaming machine and piece of equipment has to be registered with the Authority, assigning each gaming machine and piece of equipment its own identification number, which remains unchanged throughout the its operation. Issuance of an identification number to a gaming machine and equipment is a paid service provided by the Authority.
Certification is an Authority competence in which it is determined whether a gaming machine, its model and its gaming program comply with the standards of the manufacturer and the requirements of the regulatory enactments of Latvia.
A certification body accredited by a national accreditation body in accordance with regulatory enactments regarding the assessment, accreditation and supervision of conformity assessment bodies or another Member State of the European Union may certify a gaming machine, equipment, gaming machine game program, interactive gambling organisation system and interactive lottery organisation system. European Economic Area and European Free Trade Association national accreditation body for the right to perform testing and certification in the relevant field.
The registration of a gaming machine, equipment and gaming machine game program shall be performed in accordance with the procedures specified by the Cabinet. The Cabinet shall determine the information to be included in the certificate of conformity of a gaming machine, equipment and gaming machine game program.
Payment service providers are required to observe a blacklist of unlicensed gambling operators. The gambling regulator provides a list of unlicensed operators to payment service providers.
If you would like to learn how Lexology can drive your content marketing strategy forward, please email [email protected] .
© Copyright 2006 - 2022 Law Business Research