Germany’s new gambling regulator wants more cooperation from operators
The GGL’s CEO says that cooperation would help tackle illegal gambling.
Germany.- The new German regulator, Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), has called for more cooperation from operators to improve the country’s fledgling market. The regulator took full control of federal gaming regulation in January and has praised operators’ collaboration so far, but it said more could be done.
Speaking in a session at the Research Centre for Gaming at the University of Hohenheim, GGL CEO Ronald Benter said licensees could help the regulator tackle illegal gambling.
He said: “We are well on the way to creating an attractive legal market. The majority of permit applications have been approved. Nevertheless, we still see insufficient cooperation on the part of online gambling providers.
“This applies to both the payment of security deposits and defects in the individual games submitted in the virtual slot machines vertical. This delays the permit process and prevents faster channelling from the illegal to the legal market.
“We work with the providers willing to legalise and together pursue the goal of creating a level playing field while complying with the protection of players and minors. But we would like to see more effort on the part of the providers here.”
“The channelling rate is well over 95 per cent”
Benter made reference to the GGL’s first fine against a gambling operator, which it announced this week as an example of how it would tackle illegal gambling. He claimed several illegal gambling providers had already ceased targeting Germany since the GGL took up its regulatory duties. He also said the number of deposit options for players to use on unlicensed sites had been reduced by work with payment service providers.
“According to our market analysis, the channelling rate is well over 95 per cent, which means that up to less than 5 per cent of the betting stakes are placed with the permitted sports betting providers according to the tax data of the Federal Ministry of Finance,” he said.
The regulator had received a blow to its actions against illegal gambling when a court ruled that its blocking order against Lottoland was illegal. However, Benter said the matter was still ongoing in court.
He said: “We remain optimistic that the instrument of network blocking will ultimately be upheld by the courts as a last resort in the fight against illegal online gambling. The GGL is picking up speed in the fight against illegal gambling, including in the area of sports betting and related advertising. We will make success measurable on the basis of the data collected at GGL.”
His comments come a day after Germany’s sports betting trade association Deutsche Sportwettenverband (DSWV) repeated its call for urgent action to tackle black market gambling in Germany.
