TITLE: Finland's Ministry of The Interior Initiates Legislation Project to Enable Scratch Lottery Gifting
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On April 21, 2026, Finland's Ministry of The Interior announced the establishment of a legislation project to amend the Lottery Act and Gambling Act to permit scratch lottery tickets to be given as gifts.
The project, which will conclude on December 31, 2026, addresses a regulatory constraint introduced at the beginning of 2024. When mandatory player identification requirements were implemented for scratch lottery tickets, the legislation inadvertently prevented anyone other than the purchaser from redeeming winnings, which effectively prohibited gifting scratch lottery tickets. The Ministry of The Interior's project aims to resolve this issue by enabling prize redemption by persons other than the ticket purchaser, while maintaining mandatory player identification and registration requirements for the initial purchaser through Veikkaus Ab, Finland's state-owned gambling operator. Prize redemption will not require registration, though both the purchaser and prize redeemer must be adults to prevent minors from participating in gambling activities.
The project follows a preliminary study completed in January 2026, which examined the current legislative framework and identified necessary amendments to both the Lottery Act and Gambling Act. The study evaluated alternative legislative models and assessed their consequences. The Parliament's Administrative Committee had previously recommended that the government explore options for permitting scratch lottery gifting as part of the broader gambling system reform.
The Ministry of The Interior intends to submit a legislative proposal to Parliament during the autumn session of 2026. Further information is available from Katriina Laitinen, legislation director, or Jukka Tukia, advisory official, at the Ministry of The Interior.