{"id":5954,"date":"2026-02-03T07:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T07:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/responsible-gaming-measures-in-serbia-legislation-challenges-and-best-practices\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T07:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T07:48:31","slug":"responsible-gaming-measures-in-serbia-legislation-challenges-and-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/responsible-gaming-measures-in-serbia-legislation-challenges-and-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"RESPONSIBLE GAMING MEASURES IN SERBIA: LEGISLATION, CHALLENGES, AND BEST PRACTICES"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Regulating the games of chance sector requires a delicate balance between economic activity and social responsibility. In Serbia, this balance was formally codified in the <strong>Games of Chance Law of December 2011<\/strong>. According to this Act, the organization of games of chance must be socially responsible and strictly oriented toward three pillars: protecting minors, preventing addiction among participants, and safeguarding players&#8217; personal data.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Statutory Obligations for Operators<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The law imposes strict operational mandates on the gaming industry, particularly regarding public awareness and venue location:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Information Posters:<\/strong> Every gaming facility must display a $100\\times80$ cm poster near the entrance containing educational text on addiction prevention and contact information for an institution certified by the Ministry of Health. For kiosks, a $50\\times40$ cm poster must be displayed on the exterior.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Information Brochures:<\/strong> Leaflets addressing gambling addiction must be available on every desk or counter used for player registration.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distance Restrictions:<\/strong> Slot machine clubs must be located no less than 200 meters away from educational institutions (primary and secondary schools).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Staff Training:<\/strong> Prior to starting employment, all staff members who come into direct contact with players must be trained in addiction prevention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Legislative Gaps and Voluntary Initiatives<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite these legal mandates, the report highlights several significant <strong>regulatory gaps<\/strong> as of 2015:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Ministry of Health had not yet prescribed the exact design and content of the official informational prospectuses.<\/li>\n<li>There were no prescribed penalties or control mechanisms to enforce employee training.<\/li>\n<li>The Law failed to specify who is authorized to educate industry personnel or treat problem and pathological gamblers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In response to these deficiencies, industry members took it upon themselves to conduct <strong>voluntary measures<\/strong>. Gathered under associations like <strong>JAKTA<\/strong> (a Serbian EUROMAT member), operators promote responsible gaming through self-imposed age limitations, machine specifications, personnel training, reasonable pricing, and by framing gaming strictly as an entertainment experience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>National Institutions and Specialized Support<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Serbia has established a framework within its National Health System where problem gambling is treated as a regular psychiatric disease covered by health insurance. Key institutions include:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>The Institute of Public Health of Serbia &#8220;Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut&#8221;:<\/strong> An authority under the Ministry of Health tasked with national health promotion and educational campaigns, with plans to mobilize all medical university centers for gambling addiction treatment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Special Hospital for Addiction Diseases (Teodora Drajzera 44, Belgrade):<\/strong> Led by Dr. Mira Kovacevic, it has operated a specialized Day Hospital for non-chemical addiction rehabilitation since October 2010. Over four years, it successfully trained 2,500 gaming industry employees in prevention.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Institute of Mental Health (Palmoti\u0446\u0435\u0432\u0430 37, Belgrade):<\/strong> Directed by Professor Dr. Dusica Lecic Tosevski, where Dr. Ivica Mladenovic heads a day hospital utilizing his successful &#8220;integrative systemic model for the treatment of pathological gambling&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>The Pioneer Project: Klub &#8220;Sansa&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A prime example of expert-industry collaboration is <strong>Klub &#8220;Sansa&#8221;<\/strong>, the first Serbian association for fighting pathological gambling. Founded by prominent psychiatrists, it drives the &#8220;Responsible Gambling&#8221; project in Serbia, which was inspired by EUROMAT and is funded by the gaming industry through the JAKTA Association.<\/p>\n<p>The project focuses on five core principles: field research, intensive communication, employee education, a dedicated helpline (0800 301 302), and targeted patient treatment. The 10-week therapy program, which actively involves family members, has yielded highly positive results, demonstrating a <strong>75% cure rate<\/strong> among treated patients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regulating the games of chance sector requires a delicate balance between economic activity and social responsibility. In Serbia, this balance was formally codified in the Games of Chance Law of December 2011. According to this Act, the organization of games of chance must be socially responsible and strictly oriented toward three pillars: protecting minors, preventing &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/responsible-gaming-measures-in-serbia-legislation-challenges-and-best-practices\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">RESPONSIBLE GAMING MEASURES IN SERBIA: LEGISLATION, CHALLENGES, AND BEST PRACTICES<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"42"},"categories":[43,55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5954"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5955,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5954\/revisions\/5955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otgovorna-igra.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}