German gambling regulator fines Red Rhino over unlicensed online offering

The GGL said German players were able to gamble on platincasino.com.

Germany.- The German federal gambling regulator, the GGL, has issued a €50,000 fine against Malta-based Red Rhino for offering online gambling without a German licence 

The regulator says that although the operator had withdrawn its German-facing site platincasino.de from the market, German players could still play on platincasino.com, which is not on the GGL’s whitelist of approved igaming brands.

The regulator said it had also issued a high penalty against the payment provider that facilitated payments to Red Rhino but did not specify the amount or name the provider. The GGL warned that it will continue to take enforcement action against online gambling sites that target the market without a licence. It said penalties could be repeated or increased until unlicensed activities are halted.

Board member Benjamin Schwanke said: “The GGL’s measures are having an impact, and we are seeing an increasing pushback on existing unauthorised online gambling offers.”

Board member Ronald Benter added: “This is accompanied by a channelling to legal offerings. Consumers should ensure they only use legal online gambling offerings, as their strict legal player protection measures are supervised by the GGL.”

In June, the GGL named Udo Götze as its new chair. He replaced Jorg Sibbel on July 1. The German regulator only became fully functional in January but its regulations state that a new chair must take over on July 1 every year. Germany’s 16 federal states take turns choosing the chair. Götze is a state secretary at the Ministry of the Interior and Municipal Affairs in the Free State of Thuringia.

Earlier this month, the GGL issued a response to media inquiries about the tender process of its player protection evaluation study. The regulator appointed Dr. Tobias Hayer of the University of Bremen to lead the evaluation last month.