Αρχική Ρυθμίσεις για την αγορά διαδικτυακών παιγνίων- Τροποποίηση του ν. 4002/2011Άρθρο 01 – Τροποποίηση του άρθρου 25 του ν. του ν. 4002/2011 – ΟρισμοίΣχόλιο του χρήστη Paddy Power Betfair | 5 Οκτωβρίου 2018, 11:01
  • Σχόλιο του χρήστη 'Paddy Power Betfair' | 5 Οκτωβρίου 2018, 11:01

    Introduction • Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is one of the largest online betting and gaming companies in the world. • The group is headquartered in Ireland, but also has major operations in the UK, United States, Australia, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania and Malta, employing over 7,000 people worldwide. • We currently hold gambling licences in the UK, Ireland, USA, Australia, Italy, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus. • The company offers online sportsbook, betting exchange, casino and gaming products to millions of customers worldwide, as well as retail bookmaking services in the UK and Ireland. • PPB would like to thank the Greek Ministry of Finance for the opportunity to provide its views on the amendments that it has proposed to Law 4002/2011. This paper serves as a follow up to the submission that we made to the Hellenic Gaming Commission’s consultation from December 2017 about reforming the Greek online gambling market. General comments Whilst PPB welcomes the Finance Ministry’s desire to implement a more transparent and permanent licencing system, we have significant concerns about several of the restrictions that remain in the law. First and foremost, we are disappointed to see that the ban on betting exchanges remains in the law. As we have argued on several previous occasions, we believe that the ban is unjustified, disproportionate and in breach of EU law. Indeed this view is backed up by an opinion by a leading expert in EU law, Kelyn Bacon QC which we attach to this response. Moreover, we strongly feel that by removing the ban, the Greek state would benefit from increased taxation revenues, a reduced black market and improved standards of sporting integrity. Elsewhere, we also continue to have reservations about the impact of continuing to enforce a tax on customer winnings; the ban on Random Number Generated (RNG) games; the high licence fees; payment method restrictions and the risk of double taxation for foreign licencees.