Armenia taps Malta's Random Systems for gambling monitoring overhaul

Armenia has selected Malta-based Random Systems International to build a nationwide digital monitoring system for its gambling market. The contract gives the supplier six months to deploy the solution and runs for 15 years.

A newly created local affiliate, Game Analysis and Monitoring System, will handle operations. Its remit covers electronic tracking of wagers, blocking access for vulnerable groups, civil servants and community officials, and verifying that games meet fair-play requirements.

The selection follows a 2025 revamp of Armenia's procurement rules for gambling watchdogs, designed to make the choice of monitoring provider more transparent and competitive. Under the updated framework, bidders face clearer qualification criteria, evaluation standards and oversight procedures.

Policymakers are separately weighing new gambling restrictions. A draft law under consideration would impose spending caps, redesign Armenia's self-exclusion mechanism and bar recipients of state support from gambling. That category includes individuals drawing government benefits, residents of publicly funded social housing, people in bankruptcy proceedings, those with outstanding state debts, individuals registered with the National Centre for the Treatment of Addiction, and consumers whose loan obligations exceed 40% of annual income.

Under the draft, a citizen's total gambling outlay would be held to no more than 20% of declared yearly earnings. Armenia's National Assembly has approved the bill on first reading.

In a separate May initiative, authorities proposed reforms aimed at both licensed and unlicensed operators. Those measures call for blocking illegal gambling websites and restricting payments to them, while tightening advertising rules for legal operators.