Stakeholders in the German gambling industry have called for the Government to bring urgent changes to the 2021 Interstate Gambling Treaty in terms of enhancing the sector’s protection against black market operators.
The 2021 Intestate Gambling Treaty, also known as GlüNeuRStv, was ratified by the German Federal States in March 2021 and was officially brought into action on July 1st, 2021. Under the piece of legislation, a general ban on online gambling services was imposed, with licensed traditional lotteries, horse racing, sports betting, online casino games, online poker, and virtual slot machines being subject to an exemption to a certain extent.
Germany’s 2021 Interstate Gambling Treaty is aimed at the provision of better customer protection via a blocking system that is currently available for all gaming providers and all types of games in the country thanks to early Artificial Intelligence detection. Game interventions, such as maximum stake requirements and minimum playtime, have also been unveiled as part of the treaty. According to Dr. Dirk Quermann, who is prescient of the German Online Casino Association (DOCV), it is exactly the aforementioned interventions that make licensed gambling operators less attractive in comparison to the unlicensed black market operators that often offer more favorable terms for consumers, or at least, this is how it seems.
Recently, stakeholders in the domestic gambling market have once again called for local lawmakers to bring important changes to the treaty mentioned above as soon as possible, as a means of fulfilling its original purpose of keeping consumers safe and well-protected against gambling-related harm and offshore gambling companies operating on the black market that usually target the most vulnerable society members and take advantage of them.
Black Market Gambling Operators Rise in Popularity among German Customers
At the time when the latest Parliamentary Evening event was held in Dusseldorf on September 21st and co-hosted by the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) and DOCV, local gambling stakeholders took the opportunity and once again warned how important it was for federal lawmakers to enhance the legal offering in Germany’s regulated market. This is mandatory when it comes to boosting the protection of local customers who are currently being targeted by some black market operators.
Christof Rasche, the vice president of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia and a headline speaker, explained that the existing regulations in the 2021 Intestate Gambling Treaty were not effective enough to provide the controlled system necessary to keep local customers well-protected against gambling-related harm. Apart from that, Mr. Rasche reiterated that the country’s gambling regulation needed substantial changes that had to be introduced as soon as possible. According to him, a timely assessment of the GlüNeuRStv was absolutely necessary because such an action would guarantee the achievement of the goals of the treaty.
The president of the DOCV expressed a similar point of view as the one shared by Christof Rasche. He also spoke further about the negative effects registered across all online gambling verticals in Germany and the increasing dangers associated with the black market.
He highlighted the worrying 50% drop in federal taxes from virtual slot machines from €40 million to €20 million per month since 2021 as a result of the implementation of the €1 maximum stake limit and the more restrictive in-game requirements that were unveiled as a result of the treaty.
