German Operators Dreading New Gaming Law Implementation

Numerous gaming establishments in Germany could be closed as new rules are set to come into effect.

Various gambling operators in Germany have found themselves in all sorts of problems as the new gaming law is set to be fully implemented in January 2017 after a five-year transition period.

The federal government passed amendments to the Race Betting and Lotteries Act back in 2012, imposing a 5% tax on sports betting turnover, while online casinos and online poker remained outlawed.

There have been serious efforts made of late in an attempt to persuade the government to loosen its stance on other forms of gambling, and Germany is also under pressure from the European Court of Justice that had made it clear that current legal framework with regards to gambling did not comply with the European Union law.

Transitional Period Set to End

Slot machine parlours were given a five-year transitional period to start complying to the strict rules, but many of them have failed to do anything, since they did not know whether they would be allowed to offer its services to German residents.

Even though the new rules are set to come into effect on 1st January 2017, the strict regulations appear to have been implemented since 31st July, with new operators only issued licenses if their objects are at least 500 metres away from similar gaming venues.

As a result, a huge number of smaller gaming establishments could be forced to end their operations, but the German gaming industry board spokesman Georg Stecker hopes the government will revise their plans and allow the operators to continue servicing German players.

At the same time, the Federal Government Drug Commissioner, Marlene Mortler, told the media that the new legislation was intended to combat gambling addiction and she believes that fruit machines are especially highly addictive.

Mrs Mortler has been concerned by the reports suggesting that young adults gamble more than they did few years ago and she wants to lower the number of gambling addicts as much as possible.