How do you solve a problem like regulation? That is the quandary that is pondered on a never ending basis by numerous parties all over the world.
Legislative clampdowns have become increasingly commonplace across numerous jurisdictions as authorities look to quell an increasing public backlash regarding the prevalence of the industry.
Despite the headwinds being faced, Gaming1 remains optimistic regarding its own outlook. However, a rallying cry to regulators is issued via a plea to smooth over such processes, and collaborate on stamping out the unregulated ecosystem.
Regulatory Manager, Florence Jehaes, remains ambitious that the group can continue on a quest for platform development to keep evolving, despite regulatory developments and the tightening of legislation continuing to be a major theme.
“We see that in each and every jurisdiction that authorities of games are fining people because they’re operating illegally,” she says.
“This isn’t just operators, but providers are also being seen to have very huge fines. We hope that it’ll keep evolving in this way.
“We need new rules that are evolving with the online gambling industry”
“I think that the other aspect is duty of care and the protection of players. This is the counterpart if you want to have competitiveness, but there are these illegal operators. We need to offer duty of care to the players, and have very good games compared to the other ones.
“This is the fight against the illegal sector, but also the duty of care that we need to provide to players.”
With a footprint spanning numerous European countries, Gaming1 faces a delicate balancing act of regulatory requirements. Similarly to many of the industry’s operators.
Elevated by a stronghold that spans Belgium, France and Switzerland, it’s the former that causes the primary concern for Jehaes.
“In Belgium, we are really looking forward to the evolution of the Gaming Commission,” she comments. “The Gaming Commission will have more employees, get more strength and fight illegal gambling, but we also have to have the support legal operators’ needs, because we have rules that are not clear, not usable and are outdated.
“We need new rules that are evolving with the online gambling industry. We hope that the Gaming Commission will get stronger and that we’ll have the support to get a level playing field between legal and illegal operators.”
“…we have rules that are not clear, not usable and are outdated”
From a regulatory evolution perspective, significant developments are seemingly inevitable. Authorities are on a constant quest to develop regulations in line with rising public demand.
For Jehaes, this centres around one key subject. That being the duty of care that players should rightly expect.
“We see that in Spain, but we also see evolution regarding duty of care in the Netherlands,” she says. “They are getting more information and details on how we should apply the duty of care.
“It’s the same in Switzerland, but there you have your own duty of care, approved by the Authority and how you apply it.”
There seems to be a common misconception that as online increases in prominence, land-based goes the opposite way as the convenience of access pays dividends.
With this in mind, Gaming1 believes that a change in law is necessary to view land-based differently, and ensure that its outdated nature is not allowed to continue.
“Most of the rooms are empty in Belgium because we cannot do advertising anymore, for example,” Jehaes notes. “We have a strict ban on advertising, so people do not know that we exist.
“We really need to modernise how we can operate land-based establishments”
“We do not have regulation that is following the evolution of digitalisation, so we cannot provide players with the experience that we wish to.
“We really need to modernise how we can operate land-based establishments, we also need to link offline and online, but at the moment in Belgium this is strictly prohibited.”
As things drew to an inevitable conclusion, the conversation returned to a familiar topic. The importance of a sustained and effective clampdown on illegal operators once again in the spotlight.
“I really hope that we get concrete action against illegal gambling, because we can really find a number of ways to be very effective to track and block them,” she ends.
“If there is no money in a gambling website, there’s no gambling. If you can act and block them at this stage, it can be very effective. I hope that in six months we’ll get some results on that.”
