Slovakian introduced clear gambling rules

Slovakia’s monopolistic iGaming market is on the way to change following the submission of new legislation to the European Commission for its opinion.

Slovakia opened draft legislation to the European Commission which would replace existing legislation that dates back to 2005 and open up the market to private operators from March 1, 2019. Authorities said they were inspired by European countries that have introduced new regulated gambling frameworks in recent years such as Denmark, Sweden, Romania and the Czech Republic.

A new Regulatory Office for Gambling is proposed in order to centralise activities in the gambling sector. With the exception of legislation, the office’s scope would cover all activities related to the gambling sector, in particular licensing, supervision, imposing sanctions and the administration of fees. Online operators would pay a 23% tax rate under the new regime, with various operational charges.

Peter Papanek, head of the Association of Betting Companies of the Slovak Republic, said: «Experience from abroad shows that, if the state wants to intervene against tax evasion and illegal gambling, it must go through the liberalisation of the market and the setting of fair conditions, inter alia, to motivate operators to operate legally.

Illegal companies thus lose the incentive to circumvent the rules, and the state, in addition to income, also gains the certainty of consumer protection. The countries that have been chosen liberalisation have rapidly reduced the share of the black market».