New Gambling Legislation Vetoed by Slovakian President
Slovakia's online gaming industry was poised for a big shake-up a few weeks ago, after the country's lawmakers approved measures that would potentially break the local internet monopoly. It was originally hoped that the country's president would sign the new laws into legislation, enabling foreign players to apply for local gaming licenses.
The new system will then begin approving applications for online casino licenses by March 1, 2019, with approvals for licenses scheduled for July 1, 2019. Regulators in the country will also start approving applications for sports betting licenses from 1 July 2019, but those specific licenses will not come into effect until 1 July 2020. The online casino and online sports betting licenses would cost a whopping €3 million a piece for the participating operators – however, operators interested in offering both would earn a € million discount for expressing interest in all licenses. These licenses would also be valid for 10-year periods but they would be granted 5-year licenses for the operators who opted for internet and land-based gaming, as well as a 5-year extension period at their own discretion.
In addition to all that, the government will establish a separate office for casino control that would be responsible for supervision of the gaming sector, which the ministry of finance had traditionally done.
Position of President
The Slovakian President Andrej Kiska was not so satisfied with the legislation, and therefore blocked the proposed poker system that would have opened the online gaming industry to foreign players for the first time. President Kiska said in a statement he released last Friday that he had declined to authorize the online gambling regulations because they had "reservations which show the error of the entire principle of the approved legislation."
According to the president, the draft legislation included inadequate consumer protection provisions – for example, they intended to include a provision enabling all citizens who had declared personal bankruptcy to be included in slovakia's national register of exclusion from gambling. In addition, he also pointed out flaws in the regulatory provision that all gamblers send digital versions of their citizen s card for proof of identity. He claims there needs to be "a simpler way to explain the eligibility to play gambling that does not pose a danger to the security of confidential and deceptive personal details."
In comparison, the act failed to clarify how the government would spend taxes on casinos and even left local government agencies out. President Kiska wants the lawmakers to go back to the drawing board before the bill gets back to him. Alternatively, they'd just try to override his veto, although that's rather unlikely.
