Possible new Belgian legislation could prove detrimental to player protection

New potential legislation in Belgium has been raised as a cause for concern by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA).

In this proposed legislation, players will need to set up a separate account for each product they would like to use with each operator.

The EGBA believes that such a change could raise several concerning issues regarding player protection, especially because it will significantly and negatively disrupt the player experience for many players, especially for those who play with multiple products across many different operators.

The EGBA considers that this kind of impact could push players towards the unregulated market as there the process would not be as cumbersome.

The Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO) also commented on this potential legislation, reiterating the EGBA’s stance that this could prove detrimental to consumer protection. The BAGO’s reasoning is that such a move would mean players will lose control of their own spending patterns, operators would not know players’ gaming behaviour and sharing data with the government would be made more difficult as well.

The BAGO also feels that if this new legislation comes to pass, it will turn players towards illegal operators, who by definition do not follow the rules and don’t offer any player protection. Therefore, the BAGO is an advocate for maintaining the current rules of single-player accounts per operator, based on the belief it offers better and substantiated player protection.