Norway reveals payment blocking deficiencies for international gambling transactions
Parliamentary questions confirm regulator cannot prevent Norwegian citizens from gambling on unlicensed sites with that responsibility falling to the banks
Norway’s Minister of Culture Abid Raja has confirmed the Norwegian Gaming Authority (NGA) cannot prevent players from using their own bank accounts to gamble with international operators.
Norwegian MP Himanshu Gulati questioned whether the NGA could make decisions affecting Norwegian citizens over the use of their own accounts or internationally registered bank accounts (EMIs).
Responding to the question, Raja said: “The gaming oversight [NGA] does not have decision power to prevent Norwegian citizens from using their own accounts in banks or EMIs.
“This is independent of where the account is registered, whether in Norway or abroad.
“What the gaming oversight however can do is order Norwegian banks and financial institutions to decline online gambling transactions which do not hold a local licence,” Raja added.
The NGA has pursued an aggressive policy of preventing Norwegian players from accessing unlicensed gambling sites by targeting Norwegian banks and issuing payment blocking orders.
Norway’s Ministry of Culture first launched payment blocking measures against offshore online gambling operators in June 2010 and has built on these initial measures with subsequent prohibitions, the latest of which was instituted in May 2019.
This latest prohibition applies to payment transactions to and from unlicensed operators and other companies which provide payment transactions on behalf of unlicensed operators.
Successive legal challenges have centred on the assertion that payment blocking infringes on EU law, and the freedom to provide goods and services without restriction.
Discussing the scope of the NGA’s powers in issuing blocking orders, Raja said: “These orders cannot prevent citizens making payments from their own account for transactions that are not attached to unlawful gambling.
“In a scenario where customers are hindered from usage of their own account, this is not due to the Norwegian gaming oversight, but for instance that the bank on basis of their own guidelines and terms and conditions has chosen to close this account.
“This is however not something the gaming authorities are involved in,” Raja added.