The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumerism and Agenda 2030 has imposed penalties of more than three million euros on 26 online gaming operators, including Betfair, 888 and Codere, for serious violations of existing regulations, a statement said.
Specifically, the administration headed by Pablo Postenduy published a new set of sanctions for serious and very serious offenses against 32 operators in the gambling and online gambling sector in Spain, with fines exceeding a total of €33 million.
Of these 32 violations – dictated by the General Directorate of Juego Ordenación (DGOJ) – six were very serious, and were directed at foreign “online” gaming operators operating without a license in Spain. These penalties, classified as very serious, include a fine of $5 million for each operator, as well as blocking their pages.
The other 26, which are of a serious nature, are imposed on operators who, even without a proper licence, commit some type of violation stipulated in Article 40 of Law No. 13/2011 on the Regulation of Gambling.
Among the operators that have been fined for serious violations are, among others, 888 Online, which will have to pay 250 thousand euros for non-compliance with the technical requirements of regulations on software and communications systems, and for the use of uncertified or unauthorized technical systems.
And also Beatya Online, which was fined 300 thousand euros for non-compliance with the technical requirements of regulations related to software and telecommunications systems.
For its part, Betfair imposed a fine of €100,000 for failing to comply with its obligations regarding responsible gambling and protecting players under the law.
Electraworks Ceuta will also pay €512,000 for three different violations stipulated in Article 40 of the law: allowing prohibited persons to access games, using unapproved or unauthorized technical systems, and non-compliance with the technical requirements of regulations relating to software and communications systems. It is for this last reason that Codere was also punished with a fine of 17,500 euros.
As a result, fines vary depending on the violation committed, reaching up to three million euros and an overall average of 26 penalties.
Six foreign operators were banned
The six operators to be banned as a result of very serious violations are XYZ Entertainment, Moonrail Limited, EOD Code SRL, Samaki, Lone Rock Holdings and Novaforge. Furthermore, they imposed a fine of five million euros on each person (30 million euros in total).
Over the course of a year, while calculating this latest batch of fines, Consomo imposed 58 serious and very serious penalties, with a total value of approximately €111 million.
The latest amendment to the Gaming Regulation Act stipulates that serious and very serious administrative offenses will be published on the DGOJ website. Since then, in July 2021, 212 penalties have been announced, with fines totaling €496 million.
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