Armenia plans to create one single entity that will be responsible for regulating digital gaming. Parliament has approved changes that will assign the monitoring and data management of both online and offline gambling to one operator.
The Economic Affairs Committee of Armenia’s National Assembly after the first reading gave the go-ahead to amendments to the Law on Regulation of Gaming Activities and other related laws.
The reform will specify a computer body that will be responsible for the entire gambling industry. The State Revenue Committee Deputy Chairman of Armenia, Rafael Gevorgyan, said that the project is for better supervision and higher transparency.
The draft was debated on Wednesday before proceeding with the legislative process.
There will be more parliamentary procedures before the law is fully in effect. This move is a big shift in the way Armenia will regulate gaming operations.
Gevorgyan disclosed that the State Revenue Committee has set up an inter-agency group for holding a competitive tender. The chosen company will get a 15-year contract to run the digital regulatory framework.
The government intends to bring all licensed operators under a single system which will cover gambling websites as well as traditional casino and gaming establishments.
The tender is made open for securing the technical skills and for the smooth running of the same. Officials have not disclosed any timeframe for the selection process.
The long contract reveals how regulators are planning a digital transformation on such a huge scale.
According to the plan, a digital system will seamlessly connect each gaming operator to one central control platform. This system will gather and analyze data on gaming bets, wins, and losses from a variety of sources.
Regulators will thus have access to such data at any time and without any delay. Gevorgyan further elaborated that the State Revenue Committee cannot see the whole industry because of the limitations of the existing monitoring tools.
It is estimated that the new system will come first to regulate digitally mandated reporting. Officials are of the opinion that it will help them to more effectively regulate, and at the same time, tax supervision will be made more stringent.
Centrally, it is given as a way to modernize rule enforcement – not to change licensing requirements.
Authorities stress that the reform is geared towards addressing the existing loopholes through digital supervision. The State Revenue Committee is arguably not fully aware of the money flows in this sector yet.
The authorities see developing a single monitoring platform as a way to raise transparency and reduce the risk of non-compliance. They also think that more access to transaction data would go a long way in the accurate collection of taxes.
The officials see the proposal as just a technical upgrade that comes as a part of the bigger digital governance initiatives. Strictly speaking, the reform, if implemented, will totally change the regulation system of gambling in Armenia from the point of view of an outsider.
