Armenia is moving to significantly tighten its grip on online gambling by introducing new measures that directly target websites operated without an Armenian licence.
The country’s gambling sector has undergone substantial transformation over the past two years, with reforms going well beyond basic regulatory oversight and touching nearly every corner of the industry.
Parliament originally adopted a new regulatory framework in June 2024, which formally came into force on January 1, 2025, setting the foundation for a more structured and enforceable licensing regime.
Since that framework took effect, lawmakers have continued layering additional regulations on top of it, including the creation of a single centralised digital platform designed to monitor gambling activity in real time.
This centralised platform connects all licensed operators across both online and land-based sectors, feeding authorities with live data covering wagers, deposits, and player losses.
The State Revenue Committee selected Malta-based RegTech firm Random Systems International through an open tender process to manage the platform under a 15-year licence agreement.
Parliament then passed a further wave of sweeping amendments in June 2026, tightening controls specifically on online casinos and introducing mandatory self-exclusion tools for operators.
Under those June 2026 reforms, every licensed operator became required to display a clearly visible self-blocking button on both their websites and mobile applications.
The State Revenue Committee has since announced that amendments to the Law “On Regulation of Gaming Activities” will take effect from February 8, 2027, revising how authorities approach the blocking of unlicensed gambling and lottery sites.
According to local news outlet ArmenPress, the updated approach will place telecommunications operators at the centre of enforcement, with those companies responsible for restricting access to unlicensed sites.
Relying on telecoms providers is expected to make technical blocking considerably more effective than the methods authorities have relied on previously.
The reforms will also restrict advertising by companies that do not hold Armenian licences, preventing unlicensed operators from freely marketing their services to Armenian players.
Taken together, these layered reforms represent one of the most comprehensive overhauls of gambling regulation Armenia has undertaken, with enforcement mechanisms now extending from platform monitoring through to network-level website blocking.
