Greece sends amended gambling law to European Commission
New law separates licence types and also provides regulation for affiliates
The Greek government has submitted an amendment law to the European Commission allowing for online gambling and sports betting licensing and regulation.
The law amends article 25 of the 2011 gambling act introducing the basic concept of a “gambling licence holder via the internet” into Greek law.
As part of this process, online gambling licences are separated into two categories: a licence to hold betting games (which encompasses sports betting) and “permission of other online gaming”.
It also includes provisions to allow operators to hold both types of licences at the same time, with no limitation on the number of licences being issued. Operators are limited to two licences (i.e. one online casino and one sports betting) per site.
The law also provides that further gambling regulation will be adopted by a decision of the Minister of Finance based on suggestions made by the Greek regulator (EEEP) and not by a presidential decree, as has been done previously.
Qualifying its decision, the Greek government said this was “appropriate given the speed of technological development in this area”.
Operators are required to use dot.Gr website addresses and any operator with a registered office outside of Greece who applies for a licence will be required to install a secure server in Greece.
The legislation also clarifies the inclusion of affiliates in Greek gaming law, allowing for the Greek regulator to establish a registry of affiliate operators, enabling it to add affiliates to the pre-existing blacklist of unlicensed operators.
Finally, the amendment provides for a uniform 10% tax rate on players gambling online.