Vietnam presents stricter conditions on slot machines

Vietnamese government reinforced control on slot machines used in facilities open to foreigners in Vietnam. The new regulation follows the Decree 175/2016/ND-CP approved on December 30, 2016 and will come into effect on February 15, 2017.

According to the Decree on business in prize-winning electronic games for foreigners, slot machines have to be 100% new, with technical specifications clarified by the manufacturer, and certified by independent certifying agencies operating in G7 countries (Germany, Canada, US, France, Italy, Japan and UK).

The legal slot machines operating in casinos that are available to foreign players nationwide, will have to offer a pay-out percentage of at least 90%. Operators will be obliged to obtain the re-certification by the government to prove their gaming machines meet the new conditions.

The legal slot machines must add the 90% payout offering into the software that is installed into machine while it is still in the factory. The operators will be allowed to change the pay-out percentage, but the new percentage must not be lower than 90%. In this case, the machines will have to be certified again and the percentage will always have to be noted in the terms of the game.

Furthermore, the operators will be allowed to maintain or repair the machines, but in case such actions would concern the parts of the machines that could alter the percentage, the certification will have to be obtained again before putting machines into use.

The Vietnamese government has recently announced that the plan to allow slot machines in international airports is placed on hold. There will be no actions taken regarding the proposal until the government can measure the results of its three-year trial of allowing Vietnamese residents to gamble at two integrated resorts.