(Newswire.net — June 19, 2018) — Norway has prepared a new set of regulations regarding the gambling industry in the country, reports Norskcasino.online. The Ministry of Culture, which manages the legal monopolies, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, has submitted the regulations to the European Commission for review. The commission will either reject or approve the new set of regulations before September 5, 2018. Meanwhile, the country will not be able to implement the changes. Many see the legislation as an attempt by the Norwegian regulators to maintain the state monopoly in the industry. Although all other gambling activities in the country are illegal, there are internationally licensed online providers which still manage to attract a sizable user-base.
One way the regulations aim to stifle the activity of online gambling providers is by making it difficult for them to process payments. Banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions will be required to block all transactions initiated by customers located in Norway that could be associated with illegal gambling activities. Furthermore, financial institutions are also required to report clients who are suspected of taking part in such activities. Norwegian Gaming Authority will see its power extended in other ways as well. For example, it could gain the power to block transactions carried out on behalf of the gambling companies. This kind of regulation is not the first for the country. Norwegian Payment Blocking Regulation, which was introduced in 2010, served a similar purpose.
The set of regulations presented to the European Commission was originally drafted by a coalition of four parties, Labor Party, the Christian People’s Party, the Center Party, and the Socialist Left Party. Besides payment blocking, DNS blocking is also considered as a part of the new regulation. This means that people in Norway will simply lose access to the websites of online gambling services. This is a measure that was avoided for a long time, but it could prove to be a decisive solution to the problem and could strengthen the market hold of existing state-run monopolies.
There have been attempts in the country to establish a licensing system for allowing internationally licensed gambling providers to offer their services to people in Norway. The proposal of the new set of regulations puts an end to these discussions as it is designed to do the complete opposite i.e. support the current monopoly of Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.
In the current system, the state-run monopolies are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs and all the profits generated from their services are channeled back to the sport and culture sectors. Services offered by these companies include lotteries, sports betting, Keno and various other forms of gambling.
Read more on this subject at https://norskcasino.online/casino-nyheter/norge-har-sendt-inn-nytt-forslag-til-gamblingregulering-til-eu-kommisjonen/.