On August 8, 2026, it emerged that Estonia is considering expanding its national gambling exclusion system to allow family members or courts to request restrictions on gamblers, as the number of people registered under the country’s exclusion framework approaches 21,000, up from 17,203 in 2023.
The proposal is part of a review of Estonia’s Gambling Act (Hasartmänguseadus) being prepared by the Ministry of Finance. Rainer Osanik, Head of the Financial Information Policy Department, confirmed that the government will examine mechanisms allowing gamblers to be entered into the register on additional grounds, potentially including a request from relatives or a court decision. Currently, only gamblers themselves can voluntarily activate a restriction.
The system allows individuals to impose a gambling restriction for a minimum period of six months and up to three years before requesting its removal. Licensed operators must check the register and prevent restricted individuals from accessing the gambling products covered by their exclusion. Latest figures from the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB/MTA) show 20,628 people restricted from games of chance, 9,767 from sports betting and 5,968 from lotteries. The categories overlap and therefore cannot be added together. Sports betting restrictions alone have increased by 348 people since the beginning of 2026.
Raigo Uukkivi
Jekaterina Nikitina, Head of the ETCB’s Excise Department, attributed the increase primarily to greater awareness and use of available player-protection tools. The tax and customs authority, headed by Director General Raigo Uukkivi since December 2021, administers the system and performs supervisory functions over the gambling market.
The Ministry of Finance formally launched the process to modernize the Gambling Act on February 14, 2025, after concluding that the regulatory framework needed to adapt to technological changes in the industry. The review covers remote gambling, betting, age limits, sanctions, digital instant lotteries, cryptocurrencies and player protection.
Allowing relatives or courts to intervene has not yet been approved and has no effective date. The Ministry must first determine the legal framework before any amendment advances through the legislative process and reaches the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, which has the authority to approve changes to the law.
