EGBA moves forward with case against Norwegian government

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), alongside Entercash payments processor, brought a case against the Norwegian Ministry of Culture in Oslo District Court over the Norwegian government’s policy of seeking to block online gambling payments.

The case is a consequence of multiple unsuccessful attempts by EGBA to persuade the Norwegian government to rethink on the policy of banning payment transactions of various gambling companies. The Norwegian government had asked the banks to block payments to and from accounts identified as being used for processing gambling transactions.

EGBA believes payment blocking infringes on European Union law and the freedom of payment processors to do business across the European Economic Area (EEA).

The association also proposed a review of the government’s regulations on online gambling instead of blocking measures to protect the revenues of the state monopoly and fend off outside competition from EU-licensed operators. EGBA maintains that adopting a multi-licensing regime – similar to other EEA countries, including those with existing state-owned monopolies – would improve the functioning of Norway’s online gambling market.

“Norway is one of only two EEA countries which do not have a licensing regime yet – but it is inevitable they will have to confront this decision sooner or later,” said Maarten Haijer, EGBA Secretary General.