HILO

About HILO

Anyone residing in Cyprus, with income not high enough to support their basic needs, is eligible for the benefit.

Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.

During a session of the House Audit Committee last Thursday, members of parliament (MPs), the Data Protection Commissioner and representatives from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (WBAS), the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission and the National Betting Authority (NBA) convened to discuss ways to identify and restrict gambling activity among GMI beneficiaries, as reported by Cyprus Mail.

How to play HILO

Supporters of the change argued that people aged 18 to 20 are already treated as adults in many areas of civic and economic life, and that retaining a separate gambling threshold of 21 could push some towards unlicensed sites.

During the committee stage debate, Labour and Home Affairs Minister Major General Pius Mokgware warned parliament against adopting rules that could not be enforced in practice.

“Do not have legislations which you cannot enforce, it is dangerous,” Mokgware told parliament.

How to play HILO

Please provide as much detail and insight as possible on the person/s you are nominating. The more information and background we receive, the clearer the picture of their career and achievements can be.

While it’s tempting to use AI to help you write a submit, we please ask that you avoid doing so, as once again, the more personal an entry is, the better we can judge it across our key criteria.

The submission form will close on 1 October, at which time nominations will be put to our esteemed panel of judges for final review.