New gambling regulations approved in Lithuania

New online gambling regulations designed to combat illegal operators were passed in the Lithuanian parliament this week as the national regulator warned that it will not tolerate unlicensed operators accessing Lithuanian punters.

Observers have noted that the changes are in many ways similar to those imposed in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia, and include plans for an online gambling blacklist.

The regulations are part of a general tightening of both land and online gambling industry regulation. Under the new regulations, gambling companies will be required to link all gaming machines into a new electronic control system, designed to provide more transparency and better control of gaming machines and unlicensed online gambling operators.

The gambling companies will be able to voluntarily connect to the network until 1st November 2019. Following that, companies which missed the deadline will be obliged to connect until 1st November 2021.

Vilius Sapoka, Lithuania’s minister of finance, said in a statement that the new regulations are necessary to protect consumers and tax revenues, fight money laundering and combat other illicit transactions.

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