Lithuania is going through ground-breaking changes in terms of gambling laws. After reading the proposition regarding the country’s gambling act, the Lithuanian legislature decided to approve several amendments. Among them is one concerning online-only licenses.
At this moment, if you want to gain a license to operate as a remote gambling establishment, you need to offer land-based gaming, as well. Soon enough, thanks to the new laws, this will change. Lithuania’s online gaming operators are looking forward to introducing new licenses. The government promised they will not require any kind of tethering requirements.
The only thing that online gaming establishments need to care about is the amount of money in their account. Operators who wish to obtain a legitimate license for providing online casino gaming services must have at least 1.2 million euros of capital to apply for a license.
Those brands who are interested in online sports betting should have at least 289,000 euros.
The lowest amount of money in the bank needs venues that are interested to provide online racing betting – 144,000 euros.
Land-Based Betting Facilities to Face New Rules Too
In the near future, slot halls, bingo halls, and betting shops, will need to be approved by municipal councils.
Prior to this, fees must be paid. This includes 1,000,000 euros upon receiving the permit to work legally, plus an additional payment depending on the license type.
Casinos interested in offering slots to clients will need to drop 300,000 euros in order to do that. Bingo and betting are much cheaper entertainment at “only” 100,000 euros.
The budget in Lithuania will be much bigger if this idea becomes reality. Mykolas Majauskas, a member of the Lithuanian legislature, who wrote the amendments said that these changes can pump the country’s budget by 8,000,000 euros, annually.
The government plans to spend this extra money on addiction prevention.
Interestingly, not all members of the legislature voted in favor of these changes. A majority, 74 members exactly, think that new obligations for casinos, land-based and online, are a good idea. Only 7 members disagreed, and 39 abstained. The deal is still not sealed, though. The amendments must pass one more round of voting. The legislature must approve it in the second reading for them to become a law.
Source:
“Lithuanian Parliament Approves New Online Only Gambling Licenses”, O’Boyle, Daniel, igamingbusiness.com, September 23, 2021.
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