A new law simplifying the online ID process for Russian gamblers has met with approval by bookmakers in the country, according to Asia Gaming Brief.
The law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in early July, eliminates the requirement that the identities of online players be verified twice, by a bookmaker and by TSUPIS, an online processing center. Henceforth, TSUPIS will be solely responsible for the verifications.
Bookies have now been granted the right to delegate the identification of their new online players directly to TSUPIS.
Darina Denisova, head of the Association of Betting Shops, said the law is “finally a way to compete on equal terms with offshore companies, which have so far been pulling away a significant share of their clients away.” Now the procedure “will get easy and clear for punters,” she added.
Yuri Krasovsky, head of Russian gaming company Liga Stavok, said the move “will definitely become the driver of the development of the legal betting industry and will help us in the fight against illegal bookmakers. We also have progressed in this sphere: if earlier the shadow market accounted for 70 percent of bets, now the ratio is 60 percent to 40 percent in our favor.”
