Armenia plans telecoms blocks for unlicensed gambling sites as 8 February 2027 enforcement date is set

Armenia is preparing another layer of control over online gambling: the State Revenue Committee (SRC) is moving to block unlicensed sites through telecommunications operators, with the new rules due to take effect on 8 February 2027. For PSPs, banks, and high-risk merchants, the point is straightforward: Armenia is extending enforcement beyond payments and into access and advertising.

1. According to Armenpress, the SRC is considering measures that would stop unlicensed gambling websites via telecommunications operators. The revisions would update existing rules under the Law On Regulation of Gaming Activities, specifically those covering the blocking of unlicensed operators offering online gambling and lottery services.
2. The state press said the new provisions will be enforced on 8 February 2027. The Committee said the change is intended to address the growing ease of access to offshore platforms through digital channels, and that advertising opportunities for these unlicensed operators will also be severely limited.
3. Armenia’s gambling legislation has already been through a broader overhaul: it was adopted by the National Assembly in June 2024 and officially enforced on 1 January 2025. So this is not a one-off tweak; it is part of a wider rewrite of how the market is policed.
4. This year, the National Assembly adopted amendments in February to create a single digital system for gambling regulation. The system connects licensed operators to a centralised digital infrastructure for monitoring, provides real-time information on wagers, deposits and losses, covers both online and land-based providers, and is managed by a single operator selected by the SRC.
5. That operator was chosen through an open tender, with Malta-based digital RegTech firm Random Systems International (RSI) winning the 15-year gambling regulator licence in August. RSI was then ordered to develop, optimise and launch its proprietary system in Armenia by January 2027.
6. In May, the cabinet of PM Nikol Pashinyan also tightened oversight of digital gambling through a payments block, giving the Ministry of Finance more control over Armenian banks and financial institutions to prevent them from facilitating payments linked to unlicensed gambling operators.

For high-risk payment flows, Armenia is now doing what regulators often do when they get serious: closing the route at multiple points. First payments, then monitoring, then access, then advertising. If you are a PSP or acquirer exposed to the market, the operational question is no longer just whether a merchant is licensed, but whether the infrastructure around that merchant is getting narrower by the month.