The Government Will Only be Able to Collect 1.5% of the Total Fines Levied on the Spanish Gaming Sector

May 17, 2024 — The Government of Spain, through the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 headed by Pablo Bustinduy, has sanctioned a total of 17 gambling operators for serious or very serious infractions with fines that range, as a whole, around the 81 million euros. However, it will only be able to collect 1,150,000 euros (1.5% of the total), which is the amount corresponding to seven Spanish companies licensed in Spain, since the other nine do not have a license to operate in our market. These are illegal casino websites based in Curacao, Malta or the United Kingdom.

These are Rabadi, Uno Digital Media, Eight Stars, Mrsloty Games Tech, Red Entertainment, Onyxion Malta, Trw Corporate, Vdsoft&Script Development and Uniquegame. All of them have been sanctioned with five million euros each, in accordance with the provisions of the Gambling Regulation Law (LRJ) for this type of infractions, considered very serious.

It will be very difficult for the General Directorate of Gambling Regulation (DGOJ) to collect the 45 million euros in fines (more than half of the sanctions of the last six months), given that they are illegal pages operated outside of Spain or those whose origin is unknown. They often falsify licenses and, when blocked, reappear under another name to continue operating. These illegal gambling websites (.com), different from those regulated, legal and managed by companies based in Spain (.es), leave the player unprotected, while allowing abusive practices and are frequently the scene of different scams.

Fine to the ONDEE

Another 35 million euros in fines correspond to the National Organization of Spanish and European Disabled People (ONDEE), a competitor of ONCE and which has accumulated dozens of unpaid fines. In the last list of defaulters made public by the Treasury, the organization owed 86,278,933 euros, to which they will add these 35 million, which will be very difficult for the State to collect.

Spanish companies, which are those regulated by the DGOJ, were responsible for 1.5% of the fines. Seven companies were fined a total of 1,150,000 euros for having found that people who were not allowed to play had played, although the websites did have a license.

“We are your allies”

The general director of CeJuego, Alejandro Landaluce, draws THE OBJECTIVE’s attention to how “the Government suffocates legal online gaming companies in Spain (.es) with abusive regulations and pushes the user to pirate pages (.com) in “which is not protected by the responsible gaming rules and protocols implemented by Spanish companies.”

The director of the business association that brings together 70% of private gaming proposes “focusing the regulation of the Spanish sector from a reasonable point of view that does not end with the user consuming gaming products in unsafe or fraudulent contexts, in which it is vulnerable. Laws should protect the user, not go against them. The distribution of fines gives a measure of how pressure is put on .es companies, which are those that comply, those that protect the user, that will pay the fine and that will review their protocols to avoid these situations in the future. “The Government treats those who are its allies as enemies.”

SOURCE: Sector del Juego.