Betclic wins appeal on Italian gambling license rejection

French online gambling company Betclic Everest Group won its appeal of the Italian gambling regulator’s decision from earlier this year not to renew the operator’s license for the provision of services in the country.

The regional administrative court (TAR) of Lazio issued its ruling on an appeal filed by Betclic earlier this month challenging the rejection of its online gambling license application in February by Italy’s Agenzia della Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) regulatory body. Betclic was one of seven operators whose applications were rejected by ADM, with 67 betting companies getting approved at that time.

In its appeal, which Betlic filed with the court earlier this month, the company said that it was not provided with an explanation why ADM has decided to exclude it from the list of approved operators. Also, the Italian government had expected to issue 120 new online gambling permits under its new tender process, but received only around 80 applications, meaning Betclic’s inclusion wouldn’t have resulted in another operator’s exclusion.

The Lazio regional administrative court sided with the online gambling group due to the “lack of motivation and preliminary investigation” and the lack of actual explanation, why ADM has decided not to renew Betclic’s license. The court cited the ADM’s claim that Betclic’s exclusion was “in compliance with the provisions of the code of contracts”, but the ADM failed to cite the specific provision that Betclic allegedly violated.

The court has ordered ADM to reconsider Betclic’s application and pay the company’s legal expenses.