The new Joint
Gambling Authority of the Federal States (Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der
Länder - GGL) has taken over all regulatory tasks previously performed by
individual federal states in a uniform procedure. After 1.5 years of
development work, the newly created authority has become responsible for
supervising and approving online gambling offers on behalf of all 16 federal
states as of January 1, 2023, and has already been responsible for combating
illegal gambling since July 1, 2022.
During the
press conference on January 10 to mark the launch of the authority, the board
members explained that all the prerequisites and structures have been created
to bundle the necessary competencies and resources across the states in a
single hand. Ronald Benter, board member of GGL, said: "We are well
prepared and ready to work. With the GGL, Germany is getting a central
supervisory and enforcement authority for Internet gambling for the first
time." As of January 1, GGL employs 75 people, and the authority is
expected to grow to 104 employees over the course of the year.
Ronald
Benter explained where GGL stands in establishing a legal online gambling
market, particularly for the new offerings that have been eligible for
permission since 2021, such as virtual slot games, online poker, and sports and
horse betting on the Internet. The licensing procedures have been completed to
a large extent by the states responsible for them on a transitional basis, so
that the basic prerequisite for channeling the natural gambling instinct into
permitted gambling has been created and the GGL can now essentially concentrate
on its supervisory tasks.
In the area
of virtual slot games and online poker, almost all of the 78 applications
received have been decided. However, only 25 providers for these two types of
gambling are on the official whitelist, as the security payments are still
outstanding for a number of applicants who have received positive decisions.
In the area
of individual gaming licenses for virtual slot machines and online poker, there
is still a long way to go. Of the nearly 3500 individual gaming permits applied
for, just under 600 had been reviewed and decided upon as of year-end 2022.
"We have to state that 100% of the submitted gaming permits are not
eligible for a permit," said Ronald Benter. "Often it fails because
of the simplest requirements, for example, if only English-language game
instructions are available. Here we expect better coordination between
providers and studios."
In the area
of sports and horse betting, the applications received have also been mostly
decided, but individual bets are still to be examined by the GGL. Benter:
"Our goal for 2023 in this area is to complete all permit procedures,
including the gaming and betting review, and thus create an attractive legal
gambling market."
Review of combating
illegal gambling
Benjamin
Schwanke sums up: "With the establishment of the GGL and the bundling of
resources, the federal states had hoped for more pressure and more success in
combating the illegal gambling market. These effects can actually already be
seen."
Since
taking over the responsibility of combating illegal gambling on July 01, 2022,
nearly 150 cases on illegal gambling and almost as many cases on advertising illegal
gambling have been created. In the course of this, approximately 1,150 websites
on illegal gambling were reviewed.
Numerous
illicit offers as well as the advertising for them have been removed after GGL
contacted them. GGL has already initiated more than 60 prohibition proceedings
and filed more than 30 criminal charges. A large number of these were taken
over and further processed by the Saxony-Anhalt State Administrative Office
through the GGL on July 1, 2022.
In addition
to the classic enforcement instruments, the GGL is also using payment blocking
and network blocking for the first time. Schwanke commented, "We attach
great importance to transparent communication with payment service providers
and Internet providers. We are also seeing initial successes. A large
proportion of payment service providers are withdrawing from business with
unauthorized gambling providers. Deposits with illegal gambling providers are
thus becoming increasingly difficult to impossible."
Initial
positive developments can also be seen in the new instrument of network blocks
included in the State Treaty on Gaming 2021. Based on the new legal basis, 6
proceedings have already been initiated against the largest Internet service
providers. (See the GGL press release dated October 7, 2022).
The
websites concerned have not yet been blocked, as the administrative acts of GGL
are still being reviewed by the courts. In December 2022, however, two
administrative courts already deemed the means of blocking the network
permissible in summary proceedings. The provider concerned must now block
access to the illegal offer. "This is a first milestone on the way to
judicial confirmation of the network blocks," said Benjamin Schwanke.
"The first successes in the area of enforcement and the instruments of
payment blocking and network blocks show that we are on the right track with our
approach. What is completely clear, however, is that there is still a very long
way to go."
Goals for
2023
The GGL's
focus as a supervisory authority is to consistently monitor licensed providers
for all types of gambling on the Internet that are eligible for a permit.
"We will revoke permits again if we find serious violations," says
Ronald Benter. "Because our goal is a level playing field for all
providers. We want to ensure that the business model of offering illegal or
non-compliant gambling on the Internet is not profitable in the long
term." "We will also take a consistent approach to enforcement: Any
provider not on the whitelist will be picked up, no matter how big it is,"
Schwanke adds. In this regard, GGL supports the goal of establishing a focal
prosecutor's office in Halle (Saale) to enable rapid enforcement against
unauthorized gambling providers.
Another
important topic for the next year will also be to create transparency for
players about which player protection measures must be adhered to by providers,
such as the panic button.
The further
development of addiction prevention, particularly with regard to an agreement
on early detection systems for gambling addiction, as well as market monitoring
and the awarding of research contracts, are also goals for 2023.
