As of July 1, Switzerland blocked foreign-based online gaming providers from doing business in the Swiss market, compelling gamblers in the country to use domestic sites. The Singapore-based Business Times called it “one of Europe’s strictest gambling laws.”
In a statement, federal commissions in charge of gaming, lotteries and betting said they would publish a “blacklist” of banned online gambling sites as the new rules took effect.
Critics of the measure last year gathered the 50,000 signatures necessary to put the matter to a referendum, saying the internet restrictions pose a “serious threat to liberties online,” the Times reported. But 73 percent of voters backed the change in the June 2018 vote.
The Swiss government says the Gambling Act updates legislation for the digital age and raising protections against addiction. The law will restrict all but Swiss-certified casinos and gaming companies from operating in the country, including on the internet. It will also for the first time enable Swiss companies to offer online gambling.
According to Addiction Switzerland, some 75,000 people of 8.3 million in the country have a gambling problem, costing society more than half a billion Swiss francs (US$500 million) annually. The law will allow Switzerland to tax revenues from online gaming activities and earmark the proceeds to fund anti-addiction measures.
According to the government, Swiss gamblers spend around 250 million Swiss francs annually on unregulated offshore betting sites.
Starting in July Switzerland’s 21 registered casinos can begin to offer online gaming and the Swiss lotteries can offer sports betting.
