Azerbaijan gambling licence: no online licence

Azerbaijan has no single gambling regulator and no licence for an online operator. Gambling is banned except in three channels, each defined by its own law. Organising or conducting anything else is an offence under Administrative Offences Code art 401 and Criminal Code art 244-1, whose notes exempt only the three channels.

• Lotteries: the Ministry of Economy is the authorised body. It registers each lottery other than an incentive lottery and can suspend one.
• Sports betting: the Law as rewritten from 1 January 2022 no longer names an accrediting body and provides for no accreditation after 1 December 2021. Which entities were accredited before that date is not stated in the acts; the Ministry of Economy supervises.
• Casinos: the State Tourism Agency issues the licence, signs the licence contract and must consent to any contract with a casino operator. The AML supervisor’s opinion on the applicant’s integrity is taken into account before issue.
• Advertising is supervised by the Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control State Agency; outdoor advertising by the State Advertising Agency. The AML supervisor for casinos is not named in the acts, and the financial intelligence unit is defined by function only.
• As of 22 October 2026 no bill on lotteries, sports betting, casino games or gambling advertising appears on the first page of the Milli Majlis list of draft laws.

Laws that apply

• Law on Lotteries No 594-IIQ of 5 March 2004, with Presidential Decree 64 (2004) and the Economy Ministry Lottery Rules, Virtual Lottery Rules and Incentive Lottery Rules (Collegium Decision 21 of 5 December 2022)
• Law on Physical Education and Sport No 847-IIIQ, art 53-1 (sports betting), Presidential Decree 147 (2009) as amended by Decree 1561 (30 December 2021), Cabinet Decisions 153 and 152 of 20 August 2010
• Law 1143-VIQ of 7 May 2024 on artificial land areas in the Caspian Sea, chapter 3-1 (arts 8-1, 8-2) added by Law 240-VIIQD of 8 July 2025; Presidential Decrees 90 (2024) and 456 (2025)
• Law on Licences and Permits No 176-VQ (Annex 2, item 8) · Law on State Duty arts 22.0.42 and 23.2-1 · Tax Code arts 101.5, 219.4, 220.9 and 220.9-1
• Administrative Offences Code arts 401, 428.9 and 525 · Criminal Code art 244-1 as replaced by Law 442-VIIQD (in force 30 July 2026) · Law on Information art 13-3.3
• Law on Advertising No 1281-IVQ art 32 · AML Law No 781-VIQ (casino organisers named from 29 July 2025)

No B2C licence exists for lotteries or sports betting, and no B2B licence exists for any supplier. The table lists each product, its status and what the market does about it.

• Sports betting: the operator may use one trademark only and, online, may sell itself or through one virtual seller. Participants must be 18 or older. Which entities were accredited is not published in the acts read.
• Lotteries: a draw, electronic or virtual lottery is registered before its first draw; a virtual lottery registered after the Rules took effect is valid 12 months and renews automatically unless a party gives notice one month before expiry.
• Casino: the licence is for the activity as a whole, so table games and slots fall under the one licence. It covers land-based casino games only. No casino licence has been confirmed as issued as of 22 October 2026.
• Horse-race totalizator games run only through an operator accredited by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, on the tracks; the operator is not named in the acts read.

The only licence an applicant can obtain is for casino games on artificial land in the Caspian Sea. It is land-based and does not allow any online offer. The Cabinet’s licence conditions, casino rules and operator requirements are not published as of 22 October 2026, so several points below must be confirmed with the State Tourism Agency.

• Applicant: a legal entity (land-based). The Law does not say it must be incorporated in Azerbaijan; the general licensing law accepts a register extract for a legal entity or for a branch or representation of a foreign legal entity. Ask the Agency whether a branch qualifies.
• No EU, EEA or nationality test is set in the acts read. A foreign licence is not recognised unless a treaty says so (Licences Law art 5.2), and no treaty on gambling licences was found.
• Integrity: owners with a significant interest, beneficial owners and managers must pass the AML Law’s citizen-integrity test (art 17.2). It bars a conviction for an intentional property or economic crime or any intentional serious or especially serious crime, and a court ban on a post or activity in the economic field.
• Site: the applicant must prove its right (ownership, use or lease) over each site named. Artificial land is created on water-fund land allotted to a customer and held on lease from the State; the annual base rent is AZN 10 per 100 square metres multiplied by zone and correction coefficients (Cabinet Decision 77).
• No minimum share capital, bank guarantee, local bank account, local director or business plan is required by the casino chapter or the general licensing law. Cabinet licence conditions that might add any of these are not published.
• No limit on the number of casino licences is set in the Law.

There is no online licence to price. The figures below apply to the land-based casino licence, or to the lottery and sports betting channels that are closed to a new operator.

• The duty is paid within 5 working days after the licensing body gives the amount, or the licence is revoked.
• Whether the regional halving in State Duty Law art 23.2 applies to the artificial-land casino duty is not stated in the texts read.
• Land rent, taxes, audits, AML costs and any condition the Cabinet adds are not part of the duty.
• Lottery registration and incentive-lottery notification carry no state duty in the acts read.
• No supervisory or compliance contribution is payable; the supervision fees once set in the lotteries and sports laws were repealed with effect from 1 January 2022.

The Tax Code has no single gambling tax and sets no casino rate. The simplified tax applies only to the two channels a new operator cannot enter.

• Casino: the Tax Code names no casino organiser regime. Confirm with the Ministry of Taxes how a casino licensee would be taxed.
• Simplified tax is returned and paid quarterly by the 20th of the month after the quarter; ticket-sale data goes daily to the designated authority.
• A payment by a person not registered with the tax authorities to lotteries or sports betting organised electronically outside Azerbaijan carries 18% VAT, calculated by the local payment-service provider out of the buyer’s money (art 169.3).
• Payments above AZN 3,000, whether a winning or a stake, must be cashless.

The technical rules attach to the lottery organiser and the sports betting operator. Casino technical and game rules are a Cabinet act that is not published as of 22 October 2026.

• Critical virtual lottery systems must be audited and certified to ISO/IEC or the WLA Security Control Standard; the Rules name no auditing body and no laboratory list exists. The deadline was 18 months after the Rules took effect on 21 December 2022.
• No local server, mirror server or local domain is required. A personal-data information system the organiser uses must be registered with the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport; processing without registration is not allowed.
• No geolocation control is required. Blocking is done by the State.
• Minimum prize payout: at least 50% of ticket value for draw, instant and electronic lotteries, and 50% over the life of a virtual instant lottery. No maximum RTP is set.
• Sports betting: a ticket carries at most 2,500 columns at AZN 1 a column, and winnings on one ticket are capped at AZN 250,000.
• Minimum age: 18 for lotteries and sports betting; 21 for casino games (land-based). A personal cabinet for electronic tickets needs the identity-document series, number and FIN personal code, and a mobile number or e-mail address.
• No self-exclusion register, deposit or loss limit, reality check, cooling-off period or helpline display is required. Segregation of player funds is not required.
• Winnings are paid within 30 working days of acceptance of a winning lottery ticket, or within 10 bank days for sports betting.
• Data retention: lottery records for 3 years; casino AML records for at least 5 years.

Only the three lawful operators may advertise gambling. Advertising anything else is banned and fined.

• Who may advertise: the lottery organiser and the sports betting operator (art 32.1) and the licensed casino organiser (art 32.1-1). Advertising any other gambling, or its organiser or seller, is not allowed (art 32.7).
• Fines for advertising unlawful gambling under Administrative Code art 428.9: AZN 3,000 for an individual, AZN 7,000 for an official and AZN 40,000 for a legal entity.
• Content: no address to minors, no guaranteed winnings, no presenting participation as a way to gain standing; outdoor advertising at least 100 metres from children’s and education institutions.
• A licensed casino must state the licence number, issue date and issuing body in its advertising.
• No prior approval of a gambling advertisement is required. There is no mandatory responsible gambling warning and no watershed.
• Affiliates and influencers: there is no affiliate class. Paid promotion for an operator outside the three channels is a prohibited advertisement; an influencer must label the post and state the advertiser.
• Sponsorship is allowed to the lawful operators only; no article restricts logos on kit.

AML duties bind casino organisers and operators from 29 July 2025. The enforcement rules matter more than any duty for an operator that has no licence route.

• AML Law: casino organisers and operators are bound once a customer’s financial transactions reach AZN 3,000 (art 3.2). They need an internal control programme with a named responsible person, who need not be resident, and must keep records for at least 5 years.
• Suspicious transactions are reported whatever the amount. The Law sets no day count for the suspicion report; the form is set by the financial intelligence unit.
• Lottery organiser: monthly and per-draw reports to the Ministry of Economy, an annual Big Four IFRS audit with results by 31 May, and a platform giving the Ministry view-and-search access.
• Fines for unlawful gambling (art 401): AZN 3,000 for individuals, AZN 7,000 for officials and AZN 40,000 for legal entities, including financial institutions that execute payments for it.
• Players: a player who takes part in unlicensed gambling is fined AZN 3,000 with confiscation of the stake and winnings (art 525.1), and AZN 5,000 or up to 15 days’ detention for a repeat.
• Blocking: since 30 July 2026 the executive authority may restrict access to a resource by its own decision and must apply to a court at the same time; the court rules within 5 days and hosts and internet providers must restrict access immediately. The authority is not named in the Law.
• Criminal Code art 244-1: the basic offence carries a fine of AZN 5,000 to 10,000 or up to two years’ restriction of liberty or imprisonment; the bands for virtual form are in the box above.
• Directors and managers acting as officials are fined in person as well as the company.

Azerbaijan licenses no supplier class. Supplier roles are contractual and tied to the single operator in each field.

• No licence, registration or approval exists for game developers, platforms, aggregators, hosting, live studios, KYC or geolocation vendors, odds feeds or affiliates. No official register of approved suppliers exists.
• Lotteries: a ticket seller acts under a contract with the organiser. Sports betting: sellers and the one online virtual seller act under contract with the operator and only under its trademark.
• Casino: the licensed organiser may engage a casino-games operator by civil-law contract with the State Tourism Agency’s consent; the operator requirements are not published as of 22 October 2026.
• A supplier may not serve an operator outside the three channels. Providing services connected with taking bets, transfers and payouts for unlawful gambling is fined AZN 3,000, AZN 7,000 or AZN 40,000 (art 401.3).
• Payment providers need a Central Bank licence under the Payment Services Law, not a gambling licence; a financial institution that executes payment orders for unlawful gambling is fined under art 401.4.
• A supplier owes the general taxes only: royalties paid by a resident are taxed at source at 14% (art 124.1) and other non-resident service income at 10% (art 125.1.5).
• No source code escrow, game-maths submission or foreign supplier recognition rule exists.

There is no route to an online licence, so none is shown. The steps below are what can actually be done as of 22 October 2026. The casino route is land-based on Caspian artificial land and allows no online offer.

1. 01

   Accept that no online licence route exists

   Law 1143-VIQ art 8-2.3; Sport Law art 53-1.2; Lotteries Law art 3.3

   Online casino is barred, lotteries are reserved to the designated body, and sports betting is closed to new entrants. Offering any other gambling to players in Azerbaijan is an offence.

2. 02

   Ask the State Tourism Agency for the casino conditions (land-based)

   conditions unpublished as of 22 October 2026

   Ask whether a locally registered company is required, whether a branch qualifies, what premises and licence conditions apply, and whether the regional halving of the state duty applies.

3. 03

   Secure artificial land (land-based)

   lease from the State; Cabinet Decision 77

   The applicant must prove its right over each site named in the application. Annual base rent is AZN 10 per 100 square metres multiplied by zone and correction coefficients.

4. 04

   File the casino licence application (land-based)

   issued or refused within 10 working days of registration

   File with the State Tourism Agency. The Agency tells the applicant of curable defects within 5 working days; the applicant has up to 10 working days to cure them. A licence not delivered in time is deemed issued. The AML supervisor’s opinion on integrity is taken into account.

5. 05

   Pay the state duty and sign the licence contract (land-based)

   AZN 340,000; contract within 30 days of issue

   Pay within 5 working days of being told the amount, or the licence is revoked. A casino licence has no legal effect unless the licence contract is signed within 30 days of issue.

6. 06

   Operate within the unlimited term

   AZN 340,000 each further year

   The licence has no time limit and no renewal. It is re-issued only on reorganisation or a change of name or legal address. Meet the AML duties and advertise only with the licence number, issue date and issuing body.

A prize draw tied to the sale of goods or services is not gambling licensing. Any legal entity can run one by notifying the Ministry of Economy.

1. 01

   Notify the Ministry of Economy

   at least 20 working days before the start

   The Ministry may ban the lottery within 15 working days; if it does not, the organiser may run it. No state duty is set in the acts read.

2. 02

   Keep within the rules

   Lotteries Law arts 4.5, 8-1.6

   Taking part must cost no more than the price of the goods. Alcohol above 5% and tobacco may not be prizes. The advertisement must state the conditions, period, prize fund, where and when prizes are given and the organiser.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 23 Oct 2026.