The European Gaming and Betting Association and payments processor Entercash last week filed a case against the Norwegian Ministry of Culture in Oslo District Court over a Norwegian government policy that seeks to block online gaming payments.
According to a release from EGBA, the association believes payment blocking infringes on EU law and the freedom of payment processors to do business across the European Economic Area.
“In today’s digital age it is virtually impossible to enforce national borders on the internet,” said EGBA Secretary General Maarten Haijer in the statement, “but that’s what the Norwegian authorities are trying to do by introducing payment blockings for online betting. Rather than being a tool to benefit consumers, such restrictive measures are aimed at protecting the revenues of the state-owned monopoly by cutting off outside competition from reputable EU-licensed operators.”
Haijer said the strategy is “not only in breach of the EU’s internal market principles but out of step with the reality of a consumer-driven betting market, where players will inevitably search around the internet for value and choice in the games they play. … Norway is one of only two EEA countries which do not have a licensing regime yet—but it is inevitable they will have to confront this decision sooner or later.”
Haijer contends that a multi-licensing regime “would be a win-win: it would encourage more effective channeling which would benefit player protection, more effective local control of gambling activity and increased tax revenue for the Norwegian state.”
