Croatian shoppers buying alcohol online will have to prove they are over 18 through m-Gradani, the state digital identity app, replacing the tick-box declaration most retailers rely on. Retailers and platforms have until September 15th to put a working technical solution in place.
The requirement follows amendments to the Consumer Protection Act and Trade Act, adopted unanimously by the Croatian Parliament. The same amendments bar the sale of energy drinks to under-18s.
The check runs through a QR code. The online shop generates one, the customer scans it with their phone, and m-Gradani links their verified identity to the purchase. A notification asks the customer to confirm the transaction, after which the system checks their age against official government records. The retailer never depends on what the buyer typed into a form.
Sellers face their own gate. A business must be legally registered and authorised to sell alcohol online, and must approach the Ministry of Economy before connecting its web shop to m-Gradani. The ministry confirms the seller is permitted to trade in alcohol before approving the connection.
The rules reach the doorstep as well. Delivery workers have been told to ask for valid identification when handing over age-restricted products, and to withhold the goods and contact the platform’s support service if the customer refuses or turns out to be under 18.
Tourists are outside the system. Foreign nationals with regulated residence in Croatia and an OIB personal identification number can use m-Gradani, but visitors in transit cannot, and will have to buy alcohol in physical shops.
Nikola Modrusan, who directs the Administration for the Development of State Information Infrastructure and Electronic Services at the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation, said the app could eventually handle other forms of age verification. Planned additions include property records and health services such as appointments and laboratory results.
m-Gradani has more than 200,000 users, while more than 2.3 million people use the wider e-Gradani services. OECD research cited by the government found around 45 percent of Croatian 15 and 16 year olds have drunk a large quantity of alcohol at least once, among the highest rates in Europe.
Croatia has been investing in identity infrastructure elsewhere, including a EUR 1.2 million tender to upgrade its Eurodac fingerprint system.
Sources: Croatia Week
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
