The Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling undertakes strict measures against online operators in the enforcement of the new Gambling Act

Bulgarian Trade Association of Manufacturers and Operators in the Gaming Industry (BTAMOGI) is the first association of manufacturers, importers and distributors of gaming equipment, service organizations and organizers from the gambling industry.

On June 20 the State Commission on Gambling held a press conference as a response to the wide public reaction to the black list of 22 websites of online gaming companies, access to which has been prohibited from Bulgaria through filtering the unlicensed sites, by request of the gambling regulator. The list includes the names of some of the most popular global online gaming operators like BetFair, Betathome and Bet365. This was also the first media appearance of the new Chairman of the State Commission on Gambling Ivan Enicherov. His message to the media and the public was that the main purpose of the regulator is to ensure compliance with the law at first place. He pointed out that the Commission is receiving daily complaints from users of online gambling sites who have not received their winnings and it is an obligation of the regulator to take care that this does not happen.

 The measure to prohibit the access to unlicensed online operators is stipulated in the Gambling law, adopted last year by the National Assembly. It regulates the terms, conditions and procedures under which all companies engaged in online gambling activities are to be licensed. But despite the conditions provided by the government there is no license issued so far because of a lack of willingness of the operators to apply. Their argument is that there are still some subordinate regulations missing, which does not make the regulatory environment clear enough to enable them to meet the technical requirements for licensing their online gaming operations.

Enicherov pointed out that this is a kind of speculation because at the current point there is only one ordinance left to be approved, and this still does not obstruct the execution of the whole procedure.

According to the State Commission on Gambling, there are only three companies so far that have applied for online gambling license (one of which is in the "Black list" meanwhile). The licensing procedure has been started, their documents have been reviewed and once they are brought into conformity with the law, these companies will obtain their license.

The Chairman of State Commission on Gambling strongly denied any allegations that with this list the state supports the corporate interests of certain Bulgarian gambling operators. The question, that still remains is whether the law, as it stands now has sufficient mechanisms to meet its main purpose - to increase the state revenues from gambling activities and attract foreign investments.

The tax treatment of the online gaming remains the most controversial issue - a tax rate of 15% on the total amount of wagers placed via online platforms. The online operators claim that because of increased competition they usually pay back 90% of the wagers placed. Therefore, the only way to operate profitably and apply for a license is the tax rate - if taxation is based on the total amount of wagers placed - not to exceed 2%, or shift to a new taxation base, where the gross gaming revenue (collected bets less the winnings paid) will be taxed instead.

"The law, however, must be respected, and whether it is good and how will it affect the state economy does not depend on us" - concluded Mr. Enicherov. He assured the participants that the current ”Black list”, including only sports betting sites will soon be expanded to online casinos and poker sites.

This happened at the next session of the commission, on 24th of June 2013, where the gambling regulator added to the list another 28 websites.

Meanwhile, there has been a protest held in front of the office of State Commission on Gambling, the protest being organized through the social network, requesting the resignation of the Chairman and bringing the Gambling Act and taxation of the online operators in accordance with the common European practices.

Source: BTAMOGI