Guide for Registration of Gaming Machine I General Provisions 1. This guide for registration of gaming machines (hereinafter referred to as guide ) shall govern assessment of a gaming machine used for games of chance (hereinafter referred to as assessment ) and for registration of a gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill (hereinafter referred to as registration ). 2. The purpose of this guide is to ensure common conditions and arrangements for assessment and registration to organisers of gambling in order to uniformly execute the obligations imposed by subsection 36 (5) of the Gambling Act. 3. The organiser of gambling shall submit to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board a serial number of a gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill, and a copy of an assessment of an independent expert on the conformity of a gaming machine to the requirements set out in the Gambling Act. 4. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board shall enter the data about the gaming machine of games of chance and/or games of skill provided by an organiser of gambling into the register and shall maintain records on them. 5. In order to assess a gaming machine, the expert must have technical and mental readiness and accepted competence for this. The compliance with the said requirements is supposedly ensured in the case of an authority, a person, business or laboratory having an EVS-EN ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation accepted in the European Union. 6. An expert is considered to be independent, if a manufacturer, an operator or an importer of a gaming machine has no influence on the personal or economic level to the assessment given by the expert, to the extent that might effect the assessment of the final result. 7. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board is listing on its website (www.emta.ee) experts the assessment of whose shall be accepted by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board without any supplementary certificates (hereinafter referred to as list of experts ). II Gaming Machine for Gambling 8. Gambling equipment is any device, means, hard or software that the organiser of gambling is using for organisation of gambling. 9. A gaming machine is a piece of electronic, mechanical or electro-mechanical gambling equipment made for organisation of gambling and for determining the result of gambling. A gaming machine contains: 1) Hardware consisting of a gaming machine case together with equipment and devices used for stakes to be deposited, prizes to be issued, for the display of a game program, for ensuring the explanation of the random principle of a game result and the maintenance of data or for other similar purposes; 2) Software including a game, a game system and a diagnostic system.
10. A gaming machine used for one game of chance is considered as several gaming machines, according to the number of possible gamblers, if it enables simultaneous staking or to play the machine by several gamblers. III Requirements for Gaming Machine Used for Games of Chance 11. A gaming machine for a game of chance used in Estonia must comply with the following technical requirements: 11.1 Requirements for the hardware of a gaming machine used for games of chance: 1) the fact that the gaming machine is electronically linked with other systems has no effect on the random principle of the result of a game; 2) the equipment and the devices shall ensure maintenance of at least the last five games in case of a power cut; 3) the payment system of a gaming machine shall not pay cash exceeding the value of 2,000 at a time; 11.2 Requirements for the software of a gaming machine used for games of chance: 1) the software of a gaming machine shall ensure that the average amount of payments made to the gamblers, as a result of playing, shall exceed 80 per cent of the total amount of all stakes; 2) a gaming machine shall use the random number generator for determining the result of a game; 3) a gaming machine shall be protected from external impacts, including impacts caused by electromagnetic, electrostatic or radio waves; 4) the diagnostic system of a gaming machine shall check the progress of a game and the systems effecting the result of a game and their working order; 5) the diagnostic system of a gaming machine shall record and save the results at least of the five last games and the activities during the games. 12. The requirement given in clause 11.1 item 3) of this guide shall be applied to the gaming machine where the appropriate payment system is used. IV Assessment of Independent Expert 13. An organiser of gambling must have an assessment of an independent expert on conformity of a gaming machine used for games of chance with the requirements set out in the Gambling Act. The requirements set out for a gaming machine in the Gambling Act have been concentrated into the third chapter of this guide. 14. The assessment of an independent expert must be in a written form and include an assurance of the conformity of a gaming machine used for games of chance to the requirements set out in the Gambling Act or the data that uniquely certify the relevant conformity when collating to the requirements set out in the Gambling Act (hereinafter referred to as certificate of conformity ).
15. The basis for the certificate of conformity is an official report including the results of tests made by an independent expert and the information necessary for interpretation of these results (hereinafter referred to as test protocol ). In addition to the abovementioned, a test protocol must give: 1) the title; 2) the name and address of the independent expert who has made the tests; 3) uniquely determined marking of the test protocol (the number of the test protocol) and the identification of every page (the page numbers of the test protocol on paper copies and the total number of pages); 4) the name and address of a person who orders the certificate of conformity; 5) the identification of a method (standard/verification rules) used; 6) the description of an object tested, its condition and identification uniquely determined; 7) the date(s) of performing the test; 8) test results, including the list of components tested; 9) the name(s), official title(s) and signature(s) of the person(s) who had authorized the test protocol; 10) the notation, if necessary, that the results shall be valid for the objects tested only. 16. If the test protocol includes test results performed by a sub-contractor, these must be clearly identified and presented in writing. 17. The requirements for the data in a test protocol have been established in section 5.10 of EVS-EN ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements of competency for testing and calibration laboratories. V Registration of Gaming Machine Used for Games of Chance and/or Games of Skill and Notification of Change in Data 18. Before the installation of a gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill into a gambling location, the relevant gaming machine must be registered in the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. 19. In order to register a gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill, an application (hereinafter referred to as registration application ) shall be submitted to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board where there should be recorded: 1) the name and registry code of an organiser of gambling; 2) the name and contact details of a contact person of an organiser of gambling; 3) the type, model and serial number of a gaming machine; 4) the date of manufacture of a gaming machine or - for lack of it- the year; 5) the name and address of the manufacturer of a gaming machine; 6) the date of submission and the name of the person who submitted it.
20. In addition, one should enter into the registration application of a gaming machine used for games of chance the following: 1) the number and date of the certificate of conformity; 2) the number of the test protocol; 3) the name and address of the independent expert. 21. Person s digital signature and, if possible, a transcript of the document certifying the acquisition or leasing of the gaming machine is attached to the registration application. 22. In addition, a copy of the title page of the certificate of conformity shall be attached to the registration application of the gaming machine used for games of chance. 23. The documents certifying expert s competence and independence shall be attached to the registration application of the gaming machine used for games of chance, if the expert who has issued the certificate of conformity is not entered into the list of experts. 24. The certificate of conformity and/or the test protocol shall, at the request of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, be attached to the registration application of the gaming machine used for games of chance. 25. If the registration application and/or the documents attached to it are in a foreign language, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board has the right to demand a translation into Estonian, as well as the authentication of the correctness of the translation by a sworn translator or a notary. 26. The registration application shall be sent to the e-mail address of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board: hasart@emta.ee. 27. The registration application shall be completed for each submission on all gaming machines used for games of chance and/or games of skill. A notation in the column for Register shall be made after the data of the gaming machine that needs to be registered. 28. If the organiser of gambling fails to submit the information or documents required as attached to the registration application or if there are other omissions in the registration application, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board shall set a term for rectification of deficiencies to the organiser of gambling, explaining that if the deficiencies are not rectified for the due date, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board may dismiss the registration application. 29. The organiser of gambling shall be notified of the dismissal of the registration application or of the denial of the registration application within 30 days from the filing date of the corresponding application by a written decision with the reasons given and with an explanation for an appealing procedure. 30. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board shall enter the gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill into the registry within seven working days from the filing date of the registration application without deficiencies. 31. The types of registered gaming machines for games of chance and the data of the certificates of conformity shall be made available, if possible, on the website of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board at: www.emta.ee. 32. The organiser of gambling shall notify the Estonian Tax and Customs Board without delay of all changes in the data submitted about the gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill. 33. If the data submitted about the gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill change, the registration application shall be completed
on all gaming machines used for games of chance and/or games of skill, making a notation after the changed data in the column Change. 34. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board shall maintain records on the gaming machines used for games of chance and/or games of skill and shall exercise supervision over the conformity of the said gaming machines to the requirements set out in the Gambling Act. 35. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board shall, if needed, involve an expert for supervision. 36. The organiser of gambling shall ensure that an official of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board and an expert involved in exercising supervision may have unrestricted access to the gaming machines used for games of chance and/or games of skill on the first request. 37. If a gaming machine used for games of chance which has been selected or taken away for conducting expert analysis will not meet the requirements set out in the Gambling Act, an official exercising supervision shall restrict the exploitation of all the gaming machines registered under the same certificate of conformity by affixing these with a seal. 38. The organiser of gambling shall compensate the expenses invoiced by documents of the expert assessment ordered, if, according to the expert opinion, the gaming machine used for games of chance and/or games of skill or any part thereof does not meet the requirements set out in the Gambling Act. VI Entry into Force and Implementation of Guide 39. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board shall make this guide and the registration application available on its website www.emta.ee. 40. This guide shall enter into force on 1 January 2010. 41. The certificate of conformity on the gaming machines used for games of chance that were locating at gambling places till 31 December 2009 should be submitted at the first opportunity but not later than on 1 April 2010.