BRATISLAVA, September 30, (WEBNOVINY) — The objective of the Ministry of Finance to restrict the availability of illegal gambling on the Internet, in particular offered by foreign companies, ran into criticism of several professional associations and government ministries. A total of fifteen substantive comments were raised to the draft amendment to the law on gambling, currently under interdepartmental review. Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia (RUZ), for example, demands that the Finance Ministry withdraws the proposal from review process altogether. It maintains the draft bill is in „absolute contradiction with the European Union law“.
IT Association of Slovakia criticizes the intention of the department to block public access to selected websites, the list of which should be published twice a month and regularly updated on the website of the Tax Directorate in Bratislava. The association argues that regulating the Internet is a very serious matter because it is an interference with freedom of information. „We in no way want to defend the operation of similar servers, but the risk of abuse is too high. Therefore, we consider as essential to introduce a duty to do so only based on a court decision,“ the IT Association of Slovakia told the Ministry of Finance.
With this amendment to the law on gambling, the Finance Ministry wants limit the availability of games that are operated without a license granted or issued in accordance with Slovak law. In justifying its intention, the department says the initiative to prepare the material was based on efforts of the regulatory authority to ensure that all games offered are inspected, in accordance with standards and rules of each game, and that they are not illegal. Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia, however, notes that this draft bill absolutely contradicts one of the articles of the treaty establishing the EU, providing that it is not permissible to restrict freedom to provide services in the European Union in respect to nationals of Member States who are established in another Member State as the recipient of services.
The proposed effectiveness of the amendment is set to April 1, 2012 with the exception of changes to the law on payment services, which should be effective from July 1. This change in the law is to block transfer of deposits to the account of the game operator. It should come into force later, given the need to modify the relevant banking software.
The Finance Ministry also justifies limiting the offer of services in online gambling by the need to protect players and to prevent troubled gambling. „The term troubled playing denotes obsessive gambling despite harmful negative consequences or despite recognition of the need to quit playing,“ the ministry writes. The association of companies that operate fixed-odds betting in Slovakia maintains that almost forty percent of deposits into their bets are made via the Internet.
The Ministry of Finance introduces in the draft amendment a new concept of so-called „forbidden offer.“ That should be a gambling game offered in Slovakia operated without a license through an electronic communications network. The amendment introduces a change in the Penal Code, which among others, defines the penalty for an operator operating a gambling game without a license in the form of imprisonment for one year to five years.
Last year’s government revenue from games operated online accounted for 1.3 million euros. The budget transfer from the operation of online games is calculated from the difference between received deposits and winnings paid.
SITA
