Questions raised over extent of unlicensed gambling in Czech Republic
A gambling industry trade group has highlighted discrepancies in government data.
Czech Republic.- The gambling sector trade group the Institute for the Regulation of Gambling (IPRH) says it has found major inconsistencies in data on the exposure of Czech consumers to unlicensed gambling. It’s called on the government to provide clarification of the figures provided by the customs agency CELNI SPRAVA.
CELNI SPRAVA’s latest figures suggest that black market gambling represented only 5 per cent of the country’s total betting volume of CZK 54bn (€2.1bn) in 2022. The IPRH has questioned that figure. Its own estimate is that unlicensed gambling represents at least 30 per cent of the Czech gambling market.
IPRH founder and director Jan Řehola claims that unlicensed land-based gambling alone is costing the country up to CZK 2.1bn (€85m) a year. He noted that CELNI SPRAVA has taken action against close to 1,300 unlicensed land-based casinos in the last six years while the number of licensed gambling venues has fallen to just 707.
The body believes that unlicensed gambling has been increasing due to the move towards online gambling. It noted that a survey by the Poker and Odds Players Association found that up to 40 per cent of players use illegal online operators, often unintentionally. It says that CELNI SPRAVA only counts sites that are available in the Czech language but that many players use sites in other languages.
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Severa large international gambling operators left the Czech Republic after gambling reforms introduced in 2017 increased the tax rate and introduced a requirement for in-person customer verification at authorised physical venues for participation in online gambling. As of 2023, there were only 11 operators active in the market with all but three of them being domestic businesses. The IPRH is calling for the government to introduce new reforms.
