Legislative project launched to enable scratch cards to be given as gifts 

The Ministry of the Interior has set up a legislative project to prepare amendments to the Lotteries Act and the Gambling Act concerning the claiming of winnings, with the aim of making it possible to give scratch cards as gifts. The project will run until 31 December 2026.

Scratch cards were brought under mandatory identification requirements at the beginning of 2024. Following this change, it has no longer been possible for anyone other than the buyer to claim any winnings in a scratch card. This change also prevented the purchase of scratch cards as gifts. 

Within the project now being launched, the legislation will be amended so that the buyer of a scratch card would continue to be required to be a registered customer of Veikkaus Oy and identification would be required when buying a card. However, any winnings in a scratch card could also be claimed by a person other than the buyer, and registration would not be required for claiming the winnings. The purchase of a scratch card and the claiming of any winnings would, however, always require the person concerned to have reached the age of 18 years in order to prevent gambling by minors. 

A more detailed implementation method will be assessed in the course of the legislative project. The Government proposal is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament during the autumn session of 2026.

Feasibility study provides a comprehensive description of the current state

The Administration Committee of Parliament discussed the giving of scratch cards as gifts in its memorandum concerning the reform of the gambling system. In connection with passing the new Gambling Act, Parliament required that the Government examine the possibilities to enable giving scratch cards as gifts without delay and launch any necessary legislative measures. 

In January, the Ministry of the Interior set up a project to draw up a feasibility study on the matter. The study has now been completed, and it concludes that enabling instant money lottery tickets to be given as gifts would require amendments to the Lotteries Act and the Gambling Act. Among other things, the feasibility study examines the existing legislation and the prevalence of playing scratch cards as well as sets out alternative models for legislative amendments and assesses their impacts.

Inquiries:
Katriina Laitinen, Director of Legislative Affairs, tel. +358 295 488 559
Jukka Tukia, Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 488 573 

The email addresses of the Ministry of the Interior are in the format [email protected].