Starting in 2023, it is proposed that persons under the age of 18 be prohibited from participating in lotteries.
Having registered such a project to amend the Law on Lotteries, parliamentarians representing various factions of the Seimas declare their desire to protect minors from the negative effects of lotteries.
The project stipulates that the lottery organizer and lottery ticket distributors must demand from the person buying the lottery tickets to submit a document certifying the person's age in case there are doubts that the person is younger than 18 years old.
If such a person does not provide a document certifying his age, the lottery organizer and lottery ticket distributors should refuse to sell him lottery tickets.
Warning notices about the prohibition of participation in lotteries for persons under the age of 18 must be posted at lottery ticket distribution points.
Winnings based on lottery tickets purchased before the date of entry into force of this law would be paid to persons under the age of 18 but over the age of 16 until 2023. January 31
In order to implement the amendments to the law, the Gambling Supervision Service will have to adopt the content and form of the Warning notices, the rules for their presentation at lottery ticket distribution points, websites and/or by telephone.
Currently, the Lotteries Act does not regulate the age at which lottery tickets can be purchased for lottery players. However, the law stipulates that in Lithuania it is prohibited to pay out winnings to persons under 16 years of age.
"Thus, a player of any age can buy lottery tickets in Lithuania. Such regulation does not protect minors from possible financial losses, the negative effects of lotteries, and accustoms minors to gambling," the initiators of the project say in the explanatory note of the document.
According to them, in many European countries such as Ireland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvija, Malta, Norway, Holland, Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Spain and other lottery tickets can only be purchased by persons who have reached the age of 18.
Amendments to the law on lotteries were registered by Seimas members Mykolas Majauskas, Linas Slušnys, Laima Andrikienė, Matas Maldeikis, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Andrius Palionis, Linas Jonauskas, Viktoras Fiodorovas, Algirdas Butkevičius, Andrius Kupčinskas, Vytautas Mitalas, Andrius Vyšniauskas, Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Simonas Gentvilas and others.
Jadvyga Bieliavska (ELTA)
