EUROMAT News Bulletin 12 October 2012


EUROMAT News Bulletin 12 October 2012

MEMBER STATE NEWS

 

10/10/12 – In Hungary, the ban on all gaming machines outside casinos has entered into force with immediate effect. The only gaming machines exempted from the ban are those that are located in casinos, which are licenced by a state-owned monopoly. EUROMAT’s Hungarian member association, MSZSZ, estimates that up to 40.000 European citizens were directly or indirectly employed by the Hungarian gaming and amusement industry and will be affected by this extreme measure. The Hungarian association is already taking the initial steps to challenge this decision both at national and EU level with full support of EUROMAT.

 

10/10/12 – A higher regional court in Linz (Austria) has ordered online operator bet-at-home.com to compensate an Austrian resident, who lost more than 1 million Euros playing at the gaming website and then filed a lawsuit claiming that the company did not have a valid licence to operate in Austria. Although a court of first instance had initially denied the claim, the higher regional court has now ruled that bet-at-home.com is indeed required to have a licence issued by the Austrian authorities to be allowed to offer online roulette to Austrian residents. Bet-at-home.com has confirmed that it will lodge an appeal with the country’s Federal Supreme Court.

 

02/10/12 – The Dutch gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit, has announced that it is successfully tackling illegal online gambling in the country. According to Kansspelautoriteit, more than half of the companies, which in June this year were warned to cease their illegal gambling offer, are no longer targeting the Dutch market. Moreover, these companies account for 60 to 80% of the illegal online gambling market in the Netherlands.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

10/10/12 – Belarus has confirmed plans to reform its gambling tax regime. Under the current system, most companies pay a flat tax rate based on the number of gaming machines, casino tables or cash registers in their premises. The new regime would combine a flat tax and a certain percentage on turnover of the gambling business.