The report of the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Miras Tolebayev began.
“In order to combat gambling addiction, large-scale legislative amendments were adopted last year in the areas of gambling and lottery. 150 amendments were made to 8 codes and 14 laws, which provide for restrictions on advertising by bookmakers, prohibitions on participation of civil servants and debtors in gambling, strengthening the responsibility of gambling entities, and blocking transactions in favor of online casinos.

The amendments are aimed at protecting the interests and health of Kazakhstanis and forming a responsible gambling culture. Between July and September, new norms of the law were explained to gambling entities, domestic media, and state bodies. Over the past six months, the novelties have proven their relevance.”
“In order not to further complicate the situation of citizens with material debts, about 3 million people registered in the Unified Register of Debtors were excluded from gambling. Today, the accounts of about 15 thousand citizens included in the register have been blocked. Currently, with the support of the Ministries of Justice and Digitalization, the issue of automatically matching the IINs of bettors with the register of debtors is being worked out.

Administrative cases were initiated against 5 bookmakers for 80 facts of accepting bets from debtors, and 1 subject was held accountable. In addition to debtors, more than 85 thousand civil servants, 70 thousand military personnel, and about 100 thousand employees of law enforcement and special agencies were banned from gambling and betting.
"Automation of services and extension of the restriction period increased the number of self-restricted people from 3 thousand to 188 thousand people. At the request of citizens, the period of self-restriction was extended from 1 to 10 years. 12 thousand citizens took advantage of the new norm and restricted themselves for a period of more than a year. Currently, a pilot is being implemented to automatically identify bookmaker clients with the list of self-restricted persons.
"Control over citizens' participation in betting is provided by a payment and monitoring platform called the Unified Accounting System. The system is integrated with state databases and bookmakers' electronic cash registers. Each client of a bookmaker is monitored in the system. Persons under the age of 21, self-restricted persons, debtors and civil servants are not allowed to participate in betting.
In addition, the accounting system facilitates the work of state revenue and financial monitoring bodies by controlling the financial turnover of bookmakers. In addition, the accounting system conducts monitoring on the Internet and automatically sends information about online casinos to the Ministry of Information. The system is planned to be launched this year."
"In 2024, the Committee for Regulation of Gambling Business and Lottery conducted inspections of 7 bookmakers, 3 slot machine halls and 1 casino, and a lottery operator. According to the results of the inspection, 1 bookmaker lost his license, 4 bookmakers, 2 slot machine halls and a lottery operator were fined 8 million tenge.

101 individuals were held accountable and fined 43 million tenge. Materials are being collected on 40 facts of organizing illegal lotteries. It should be noted that before the creation of the committee, no one was engaged in illegal lotteries. Only the "Lucky Star" company has the right to organize lotteries in our country. All winnings on social networks are illegal."
"The first republican sociological study was conducted by order of the committee to understand the causes and scope of gambling addiction. The study covered 6 thousand respondents aged 18 to 65. The results of the analysis will be published in March.

Methodological recommendations on the prevention of gambling addiction were developed with the participation of teachers and psychologists, a republican seminar was held, and video lessons were prepared for teachers and parents, available on the Ministry's website. Based on the developed methodology, the Ministries of Education, Information, Higher Education, and Defense are conducting large-scale educational work.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/tsm/press/news/details/928436