The EU’s Remote Gambling Association (RGA) recently voiced some concerns about Slovakia’s proposed bill to regulate their national gambling market. While the feedback is generally positive and applauds both the emergence of the draft law and its implications that we can expect a regulated Slovakian market shortly, the RGA does voice some criticism of the bill’s content.
What the RGA cites as needing immediate remedy is that the bill’s proposed license fee is many times higher than those of many other European countries, standing at an eye-watering €3 million. The RGA fears that this will discourage many would-be operators from setting up shop in Slovakia and essentially represent a misfire of the country’s new regulated market engine.
The RGA also have taken issue with a provision delaying sports betting licenses for a further year, behind casino and poker services, calling the move “anti-competitive” and put in place to protect existing local operators.
The proposed bill would tax operations at 23% of gross gambling revenue and remove a previous requirement on licensees to have a physical base in the country.
“The main objective of this new legislation is to introduce a modern legislative standard that, in comparison with the existing legislation, would take technological progress and the findings of regulatory authorities in other European countries into account more fully,” the draft itself reads in part, “while simultaneously improving the protection of players from possible harmful effects directly related to services provided in this sector.”
Any move towards a more fully regulated market in Slovakia should be welcomed across the industry, and it’s fair to say the regulations outlined in this prospective bill are distinct improvements over those that are currently in place.
