Cyprus Considers Gambling Restrictions For Welfare Recipients
Lawmakers and regulators are exploring ways to prevent Guaranteed Minimum Income recipients from gambling, although privacy and enforcement concerns remain.
Cypriot authorities are considering measures that could prevent recipients of the country's Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) welfare benefit from gambling.
Members of the House Audit Committee have discussed potential restrictions with the Data Protection Commissioner, Welfare Benefits Administration Service (WBAS), Gaming and Casino Supervision Commission and National Betting Authority (NBA). However, officials have identified legal, technical and privacy challenges that would need to be addressed before any system could be introduced.
Known locally as EEE, the GMI provides a minimum level of income to residents whose earnings are insufficient to cover basic living costs.
Regulators Explore Casino Database Checks
Harris Tsangarides, Executive Director of the Gaming and Casino Supervision Commission, said the regulator had observed increases in gambling activity around the dates on which GMI payments are distributed.
Authorities have consequently considered a technical system that could cross-reference welfare beneficiary records against casino membership databases. Such an approach could potentially allow casinos to identify GMI recipients and restrict their access to gambling.
However, authorities currently have limited access to beneficiaries' banking information. WBAS Director Giannis Vasiliadis said available financial data can sometimes indicate potentially suspicious behaviour but is insufficient to establish conclusively whether individual transactions relate to gambling.
Data Protection Commissioner Maria Christofidou told lawmakers that her office had reconsidered a legal opinion issued in 2022 and now believes there may be a legal basis for more detailed access to banking information.
The proposal has nevertheless raised concerns among MPs over financial privacy and the possibility that additional information-sharing requirements could stigmatise welfare recipients.
Identification Card Proposal Raises Privacy Concerns
Another option discussed would involve issuing GMI beneficiaries with a dedicated identification card that would need to be presented when entering gambling venues.
Several lawmakers opposed the proposal over concerns that it could publicly identify welfare recipients and potentially expose them to discrimination.
Online gambling is also expected to be central to any potential restrictions, with approximately 80% of gambling activity in Cyprus taking place digitally. Officials believe online monitoring and exclusion systems could therefore provide a more practical method of enforcing restrictions than attempting to identify welfare recipients placing anonymous bets at physical locations.
No final decision has been reached, and discussions remain focused on whether restrictions can be introduced while complying with privacy and data protection requirements.
Cyprus Prepares For Safe Gaming Week
The debate comes ahead of the ninth Cyprus Safe Gaming Week, which will be organised by the National Betting Authority from 12 to 18 October.
This year's campaign will focus on early identification of gambling risks alongside prevention, self-control and safer participation. It will use the Greek mythological figures Odysseas, Achilleas, Midas and Icarus to illustrate behaviours associated with gambling risk.
The authority said the campaign is intended to “strengthen public awareness and cultivate a culture of safe participation, where play remains what it should be: a form of entertainment.”
