Establishment, structure and functions of the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection
Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of the Republic of Latvia is implementing the government functions in arrangement of lotteries and gambling. The Inspection has commenced its activities on 1st January 1998.
The Inspection is managed by the Director of Inspection, under the subordination there are the Assistant Director, Deputy Director, Control Department and Legal Department.
Deputy Director of the Inspection is Director of the Control department. Main functions of the Control Department are:
- Control over compliance with laws and regulations governing lotteries and gambling, lotteries of goods and services within territory of the Republic of Latvia;
- Supervisory and control over arrangement of lotteries, gambling, lotteries of goods and services, participation in lotteries;
- Performance of supervisory over casino encashment;
- Aggregation and analysis of information concerning checks performed, results thereof, as well as violations of laws and regulations governing lotteries and gambling, lotteries of goods and services and reasons thereof.
Legal Department comprises Licensing Division and Financial Analysis Division. Main functions of the Legal Department:
- Ensuring representation of the Inspection in legal proceedings;
- Ensuring development and control over compliance with the state procurement contracts;
- Drawing draft statutes and laws and regulations related to arrangement of lotteries and gambling and the Inspection activities, coordination of approvals thereof and compliance with the European Union Directives;
- Review of the gambling rules;
- Performance of supervisory over registration, marking and inventory of gambling slot machines and equipment;
- Analysis and handling of documents for the purpose of granting licenses to capital companies for arrangement of lotteries and gambling, as well as to organizers of lotteries of goods and services for granting the lottery confirmations or permissions.
- Review of documents submitted by capital companies in order to receive license and provision of economic opinion thereto;
- Aggregation and analysis of information concerning overall market of lotteries and gambling, as well as elaboration of forecasts as regards development of the market of lotteries and gambling;
- Performance of marking of the gambling equipment, registration of gambling slot machines and equipment and delivery of marking signs;
- Performance of comparing and verification of the amount of market of lotteries and gambling duty and tax being calculated and paid to the Public Treasury account, amounts of the stamp duty of marking sign calculated and accrued,
- Elaboration of draft annual budgets, cost estimates, funding plans and budget performance reports of the Inspection;
- Performance of inventory concerning quantity, type, numbers and series of mandatory documents registered for each capital company.
Principal tasks of the gambling supervisory authority:
- to ensure gambling being safe for consumers (meeting general electric safety requirements and being safe from the point that technical equipment of slot machines, other lotteries and gambling devices and software providing for prize payment percent stipulated by the law);
- to ensure that organizers of lotteries and gambling comply with requirements prescribed by the law (they have sufficient financial resources, origin whereof can be established, proper reputation and they have been neither sentenced nor capacitated);
- to ensure control and supervisory over lotteries and gambling in order to those being arranged only in compliance with requirements of laws and regulations of the Republic of Latvia;
- to ensure protection of consumer rights and to form contribution, to reduce eventual social risk related to gambling.