The parliament of Finland (Suomen eduskunta) has approved the first reading of the Lottery Act that will crack down on offshore operators while propping up the existing Veikkaus monopoly.
If the parliament approves it on a second reading, after amendments, it will be forwarded to the president to become law on January 1.
New provisions in the law would block payments from operators other than Veikkaus and require that players provide identification to participate in any kind of gaming. This requirement is already in place for slot machines.
The new legislation would also ban advertising for slots or other forms of gambling considered potentially harmful.
Payment-blocking is considered unconstitutional by some lawmakers, who are fighting to exclude that provision. In addition, the Administrative Committee, which recently called the monopoly “practically broken,” has argued that there should be an inquiry into the system.
The committee successfully lobbied to limit payment-blocking only for payments to operators, not player transactions.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) criticized the bill for maintaining the Veikkaus monopoly, which it says limits consumer choice.
The association’s Secretary General Maarten Haijer commented, “The introduction of PSP blockings is an implicit admission that many of Finland’s gamblers prefer to bet on other websites rather than that of the state-run monopoly,” he said. “There are many reasons why they do so: the availability of better betting odds, and better diversity and expertise in the products offered, are to name a few.”
He added, “In the online world, consumers vote with their feet” and called the vote “a missed opportunity for overdue reform.”
The association claims that evidence from other nations show that PSP blocking does little to change customer demands for a variety of options. Haijer said, “There are many reasons why they do so: the availability of better betting odds, and better diversity and expertise in the products offered, are to name a few.”
Haijer concluded, “One of the biggest problems with Finland’s gambling policy is that a monopoly system is impossible to maintain in the online world because of the ease which consumers can go from one website to another in today’s global e-marketplace.”
