Estonian Organisation of Remote Gambling

Online casinos must meet certain criteria in order to obtain the licenses. They need to be able to offer both slot games and the traditional casino table games. The number of these that they need to have is not specified, although it is for land-based casinos.

Once the activity license has been confirmed the company enters the next stage, which is to apply for the operating permit. The permit will specify where and how the company can offer gambling services, and they have to wait for this before they can start to trade.

The activity licence and operating permit

The activity license is confirmation that the company has the right to apply for a permit. There is no end date to the activity license, but the company will need one for each type of gambling game that they want to provide.

Companies that have been granted an activity license in another European Union country have no automatic right to use it in Estonia. Any online casino operator in Estonia will need to make sure that if any of the details contained within the activity license change then they have to inform the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.

The permit means that a company can start operating at or from the address stated on the permit. To reach this point the application process must be completed, and the relevant fee must be paid to the government. The fee has to be paid before the application for the activity license is submitted. It can take up to six months for a decision to be reached on an activity license.