Online casino in Estonia

Legal regulations for online casinos in Estonia

Regulatory body duties in Estonia

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board decides whether to grant, deny, or withdraw your online casino license.  

Its duties and powers include:

• overseeing the organization of gambling activities;
• monitoring the compliance of licensees with the requirements of the current law;
• check the payment of taxes by operators for the organization of online casinos;
• maintaining a list of official internet entertainment organizers;
• publishing on the official website the list of experts involved in the evaluation of remote gaming activities.

Tax and Customs Department has the right to require the online casino operator to conduct an independent examination of the software.

These types of online gaming are allowed in Estonia: 

• virtual gambling (slot machines, roulette, video poker);
• lotteries;
• sweepstakes;
• requiring specialized knowledge and skills — poker and other card games that played at online casinos.

Player protection measures, technical support contacts and assistance to addicts in Estonia

The Act in force in Estonia sets higher requirements for licensees and support measures for players (to protect against online casinos' negative impact).  

The organizers of online platforms must:

1. To set restrictions on participation in online casinos of minors.
2. To offer participants who play for the first time, the opportunity:

• to set an upper limit on the amount that a participant is willing to lose within a week or month; 
• to raise or lower the upper limit of the amount set;
• to decrease the amount limit as soon as the participant requests it. The organizer cannot accept bets that may increase a player's losses beyond the upper limit. 

3.    To provide the participant with information about the duration of the game period, bets and winnings.
 
The owner of the web page must provide:
1. Identification of each player.
2. Registration of name, surname, ID code, date of birth, time, and entry/exit from the Internet platform. The data kept for at least five years. The Tax and Customs Department can request them, the Police Department, the Border Guard, or the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Criminal Police if necessary.
3. Keeping records of: 

• bets made by each player; 
• payments made to the account of the web page owner; 
• refunds made to the participant and the winnings paid to him.

4. Payment of the won funds (made to one bank account from which the deposit made initially).

The information on items 1 to 3 retained for about five years.  

Legalized online casino operators on web pages provide participants:

1. Name, address the organizer of the online casino, the number of the decision to issue a license.
2. The rules of the game (or a link to the Internet address where they are available).
3. Information on the prohibition of minors to play.
4. Warning about the danger of gambling addiction and contacts of organizations assisting addicts.