In Kazakhstan, the requirements for the gambling business and the rules for the admission of citizens to gambling are being tightened. As well as criminal and administrative liability for offenses in this area. About the draft law, which is currently being considered in the Mazhilis, Zakon.Deputy Elnur Beisenbayev told kz.

The draft law "On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on gambling, lotteries and lottery activities" was initiated by deputies on behalf of the Head of state. On March 19, 2024, the bill was registered, and on April 22 it will be considered at the plenary session of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Details about the proposed novels to the Zakon edition.Head of the working group, deputy of the Mazhilis Elnur Beisenbayev told kz.

Ludomania is the scourge of the XXI century

The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Gambling" has been in force since 2007. But he did not solve the problems with gambling addiction in society. The amendments should create tools so that ludomania does not become a social plague. How are these tasks proposed to be solved?

The purpose of the changes is to protect citizens and, above all, the younger generation from ludomania, to prevent negative consequences from it for citizens, their relatives and loved ones. Today, the problem of gambling addiction has ceased to be a problem of a single family or the gambler himself. It began to acquire a country-wide character. It can be said to threaten the national security of the country.

"Now elementary school students are already starting to make their first bets. It used to be slot machines, but now everything is online. In high school age, gambling addiction worsens. And as a student, it is gaining such momentum that by the age of 20 young people become experienced gamers. Subsequently, this addiction leads to suicide, divorce, alcoholism."Elnur Beisenbayev

Therefore, the most serious measures must be taken now. The bill was initiated by deputies as part of the implementation of the instruction of the head of state given in February 2021 at the fifth meeting of the National Council of Public Trust and the meeting of the Security Council in September 2023 to adopt a set of legislative, organizational, informational and ideological measures to combat gambling addiction among citizens.

With this bill, we will put a certain barrier to the further spread of gambling addiction. Especially among young people.

If we talk about the general concept of the bill, it contains the following novelties:

- increase of the refundable qualification for participation in gambling and betting from 21 years old to 25 years old;

- the introduction of a ban on participation in gambling and betting by individuals about whom information is available in the Unified Register of Debtors;

- the introduction of a ban on the Internet resources of foreign bookmakers, sweepstakes that do not have a license to engage in gambling business in Kazakhstan;

- creation of a list of foreign gambling business organizers whose activities are recognized as illegal in Kazakhstan on the basis of a court decision, a ban on the provision of services for making payments in favor of such entities;

- the introduction of standard rules for the operation of a gambling establishment, a bookmaker's office, a sweepstake, betting, and conducted gambling and betting, which are approved by the authorized body;

- mandatory informing of gambling and betting participants about the risks and harms of participating in gambling and betting, which entail harmful consequences;

- stricter requirements for the placement and distribution of advertising of betting shops;

- introduction of the concept of "electronic lottery ticket".

The age of admission to gambling is 25 years old

It is proposed to raise the age of admission to gambling and betting from 21 to 25 years old. What explains this initiative?

From the point of view of psychology, by the age of 25, a person's personality is finally formed. Illusions disappear. The reality of the future life stands vividly before my eyes. Attempts to prove their maturity are coming to an end. And in terms of physiology, human growth ends by the age of 25.

In general, as a rule, it is by the age of 25 that a person is fully accountable for his actions and deeds and is less susceptible to harmful effects, including from gambling. Therefore, the developers proposed to increase the age for admission to gambling from 21 to 25 years (amendment to paragraph 1 of Article 15 of the law).

But there is another problem. According to some reports, today about 200 thousand people under the age of 21 still place bets in online casinos through third-party accounts, that is, all those who are not legally prohibited from playing.

"In this regard, deputies are also developing a number of amendments obliging bookmakers to carry out biometric identification of their customers, as well as to prohibit the withdrawal of winnings to a bank account, an electronic wallet of electronic money, the personal account of a third-party cellular subscriber."Elnur Beisenbayev

You can't play on credit

The list of persons who cannot participate in gambling will include citizens about whom information is available in the Unified Register of Debtors. Who will be included in the register? There was no such definition before, it was said only about individuals who limited themselves from participating in gambling and betting. Why are changes being made and how will such violations be administered (the previous ban did not "work")?

The norm prohibiting individuals from participating in gambling and (or) betting who are in the Unified Register of Debtors (amendments to paragraph 1 of Article 15 of the Law) has two goals. Firstly, to protect debtor citizens from the formation of a desire for easy, quick earnings and the negative consequences of participating in gambling, betting. Secondly, to limit malicious debtors on fines, taxes and alimony for entertainment by participating in gambling and (or) betting.

"I repeat, debtors often seek the opportunity to earn quick money without labor and effort in order to repay their debts. They resort to gambling, betting in bookmakers in the hope that they will be able to earn a lot quickly. In reality, debtors lose all their remaining savings and fall into an even bigger debt hole, which affects their loved ones and family."Elnur Beisenbayev

Unscrupulous citizens who maliciously evade their debt obligations and are in the Unified Register of Debtors should also be restricted from participating in gambling and betting.

The mechanism for checking citizens through the registry is simple and does not require additional financial expenses for the organizers of the gambling business. Verification of participants in gambling, betting can be carried out in a fraction of a second at the ticket offices of a bookmaker, a betting shop, a gambling establishment. Monitoring of compliance with this norm will be carried out by authorized state bodies through integrated information systems (new paragraph 7 in Article 15-1 of the law).

A place to advertise

A very important change regarding gambling is being made to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Advertising" (paragraphs 7-2 of Article 13). I would like to clarify what this norm means. Namely, the amendments prohibit advertising of betting shops and sweepstakes in the mass media, including Internet resources, "with the exception of advertising in specialized commercial and national sports television, radio channels, Internet resources that fully (emphasize) specialize in covering sports events." Does this mean that online publications specializing not only in sports will not be able to advertise even on a specialized page where only sporting events are covered?

The need for radical actions to ban advertising of bookmakers is justified by the huge number of ludomaniacs in Kazakhstan. Therefore, it is necessary to stop aggressive advertising of bookmakers. Big billboards and banners advertising gambling should become a thing of the past.

"As for advertising placed on specialized sports television, radio channels and Internet resources, this issue is under discussion with all interested parties, both within the framework of the working group and on various dialogue platforms. I think that in the course of a comprehensive and thorough consideration of this issue, we will come to a common compromise solution."Elnur Beisenbayev

The game is played according to the Kazakh rules

The bill is supposed to ban the activities of Internet resources of foreign bookmakers and sweepstakes in the Republic of Kazakhstan. At the same time, references are made to international experience. What is the purpose of this measure? Will there be exceptions to this ban? How will the admission and control be carried out?

Now the Internet resources of foreign bookmakers are available to citizens of Kazakhstan. The fact is that there is no direct ban on them in the country. This leads to an imbalance between the Kazakh segment of the gambling business and the foreign one, as a result of which the outflow of funds is approximately one to one.

Meanwhile, in many countries, there is a ban on the activities of foreign bookmakers on the Internet. For example, in the USA, Australia, Switzerland, Belgium, the activities of foreign gambling sites are prohibited. In Kazakhstan, there is a direct ban only on online casinos, and there is no ban on the websites of foreign bookmakers and sweepstakes. For example, in paragraph 6) of paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Gambling" it says:

"Betting, acceptance (accounting) are prohibited on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan betting, payment of winnings by persons who are not organizers of the gambling business, who carry out the activities of a sweepstake or bookmaker."

However, this article is "non-working".

So, what changes if the ban on foreign bookmakers and sweepstakes proposed in the bill (addition of paragraphs 2-1) to paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Law "On Gambling") is in effect?

"In fact, those gambling business organizers who have a license to carry out their activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan will be excluded from this ban. The websites of these organizations must be registered on KZ (KZ) domains and registered with the tax authorities. In this case, we are fenced off from all gambling sites that do not benefit the state treasury and violate the interests of citizens of Kazakhstan. Since all other gambling sites with other domains will be banned."Elnur Beisenbayev

How to get bookmakers not to cancel a win

As you know, according to the existing law "On Gambling", bookmakers can arbitrarily change the rules and then, in accordance with them, not pay customers winnings on far-fetched suspicions. How should the existing amendments change the situation and protect the rights of citizens?

The operation of gambling establishments is based on the rules that they develop and submit for approval to the authorized body only once, namely in the process of obtaining a license.

The current version of the law "On Gambling" does not provide for an obligation for gambling establishments to approve such changes in the authorized body when changing the rules. From this significant gap comes the abuse of their rights by gambling establishments.

"That is, when obtaining a license, gambling establishments provide some rules for approval, and after receiving it, they work according to completely different rules. They change the rules of the games, supplement them with various games, which are most often illegal... Moreover, they unilaterally change the rights and obligations of the client."Elnur Beisenbayev

In addition, there is another significant aspect regarding the rules. Recently, civil proceedings in connection with refusals to pay winnings to clients have become more frequent in judicial practice.

Bookmakers refuse to pay winnings, referring to the so-called point of agreement with the rules, while in the course of lawsuits, bookmakers use this consent as an agreement that the bookmaker independently grants himself the right to cancel the winnings only on the basis of suspicion, contrary to the result of the event.

In this regard, deputies propose an important amendment to coordinate changes and additions to the rules of work of gambling business organizers for accepting bets and gambling and (or) betting for compliance with legislation (new paragraphs 7-6) to paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the law).

Lottery is not a game

The bill introduces the concept of an electronic lottery ticket. At the same time, it is clarified that both electronic tickets and ordinary lottery tickets cannot be distributed, and lottery terminals cannot be installed in apartment buildings, dormitories; in secondary schools, colleges, organizations of higher and postgraduate education; in religious buildings and structures; in detached buildings and structures in which organizations are located culture. What prompted the legislator to such a ban?

As you know, currently the legislation does not regulate the issue of distribution and sale of lottery tickets. According to paragraph 10) of paragraph 2 of Article 10 of the law "On Lotteries and Lottery Activities", this procedure is established by the lottery operator independently.

So, the lottery operator, using loopholes in the legislation, de facto became the organizer of the gambling business and opened themed "Lotoclub" establishments throughout Kazakhstan under the guise of trading lottery tickets. Now, as you know, their activities have been suppressed.

Taking into account this sad experience, the draft law provides norms for regulating specific places of distribution and sale of lottery tickets (paragraph 4 of the new Article 12-1 to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Lotteries and Lottery activities").

Tell us about the strengthening of administrative and criminal liability for violations in the field of gambling.

"As I have already noted, the problem of gambling has ceased to be a problem of the citizens themselves, it has acquired a country-wide character and has become a threat to the national security of the country. In these circumstances, tougher penalties are inevitable."Elnur Beisenbayev

In particular, criminal liability is established for organizing the activities of an electronic casino and an online casino in the form of a fine of up to 2 thousand rubles. MCI or community service for up to 600 hours, or restriction of liberty for up to two years, or imprisonment for the same period with confiscation of property (supplement to part 1 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code). This is the first one.

Secondly, administrative responsibility is being introduced for allowing persons under the age of 25 to participate in gambling, as well as persons restricted in gambling and betting. For these illegal actions, the state will fine medium–sized businesses by 300 MCI, and large businesses by 1 thousand MCI.

In the case of a repeat offense, the license is suspended.