Electronic Instant Bingo

In Ohio, qualified veterans and fraternal organizations may be eligible to conduct electronic instant bingo. Electronic instant bingo was legalized in June 2021 and is a modernization of traditional paper pull tabs.

In addition to licensing veterans and fraternal organizations to conduct electronic instant bingo, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office also licenses the manufacturers and distributors that supply the electronic equipment. Manufacturers and distributors of electronic instant bingo systems must obtain an endorsement from the attorney general’s office. Veterans and fraternal organizations can only obtain electronic instant bingo supplies from a licensed and endorsed electronic instant bingo distributor.

Charitable organizations and bingo manufacturers and distributors must apply for their licenses online at the attorney general’s Charitable Account Management Portal.

The office recommends the following best practices to protect your organization’s electronic instant bingo license:

• Each organization licensed to play electronic instant bingo should have, at least, two electronic instant bingo operators. Please ensure your organization’s application is regularly updated to reflect members holding these bingo roles. Under Proposed Rule OAC 109:1-4-20, for purposes of Chapter 2915 of the Revised Code “bingo game operator” of electronic instant bingo means any person who sells or redeems electronic instant bingo tickets, credits, or vouchers, or who accesses an electronic instant bingo system or electronic instant bingo funds other than as a participant.
• Organizations must be aware of their fiduciary responsibilities. A person who holds charitable funds for the benefit of others has fiduciary duties. These duties include the duty of care, the duty of loyalty, the duty to maintain accounts, and the duty of compliance. Violation of fiduciary duties could jeopardize your organization’s bingo license and even result in personal liability. Review the information on our Resources for Charities page for more information about your obligations as a fiduciary.
• Each organization should establish internal control policies for their electronic instant bingo operations. Internal controls are policies and procedures that protect charitable funds by avoiding and detecting internal threats like theft, embezzlement and mismanagement of funds. Lack of internal controls can result in a breach of fiduciary duty and jeopardize the charitable organizations bingo license and future.
• Each organization is required to maintain a separate checking account for their electronic bingo proceeds. Organizations are required to maintain copies of their bank statements and check images from all bingo accounts for a minimum of three years. These records must be uploaded online each quarter in the Charitable Account Management Portal. Be sure to select accurate files types and upload the files into the “Bingo Licensee Quarterly Report” folder. (Review the Electronic Instant Bingo Quarterly Report Notification Letter for a complete list of items required for Quarterly Reports).