Czech Republic is another European country that is planning to impose new rules and regulations, concerning the gambling activities on its territory. The Finance Ministry has announced that it is willing to allow foreign gaming operators to provide their products and services in the Czech Republic. However, they will have to strictly obey the new laws that will be implemented pretty soon.
They are to be established with the aim of increasing the annual revenue that comes from the taxes every gambling provider pays and makes the local gambling regulations more stern.
Currently, there are five bookmakers that are licensed and given a permission to provide their services in the country. Fortuna Entertainment Group is the one that has proven itself to be a leading company on the market.
For the time being, foreign operators are prohibited from selling their products in Czech Republic. If they want to enter the regulated gaming market, they are be supposed to have betting shops, which is associated with additional expenses.
Every resident of the Czech Republic, who uses gambling services that are not legalized, will be fined for violation of the laws. The same rule applies to the gambling providers that advertise or deliver services.
Betting providers have expressed their concerns about the different approach of the European countries towards the regulations and the gambling taxes they impose.
As a matter of fact, the main reason for the lack of foreign gambling providers in Czech Republic is that they prefer to concentrate their efforts on providing their services on markets where the regulations are precisely defined and easy to follow.
Luckily, the Czech Republic authorities have decided to allow foreign operators to provide their services once the new laws and taxation methods are implemented.
If everything goes smooth, the new laws will become official no later than December 2014. Every aspect of the gambling regulations is expected to be figured out towards 2016.
However, there is another side of the coin. The more accessible the gambling activities are, the more money should be set aside for fighting the problems they cause. Admittedly, one of them is the gambling addiction and the Government spends approximately 16 billion crowns for dealing with that delicate matter.
Actually, that amount of money includes not only the expenses for treatment the addicted players but also the court fees and benefits the Government pays to those who lose their jobs as a result of the gambling addiction.
Although the lottery companies remain sceptical about these estimates, they cannot deny the fact that the freedom the Czech-based players will get, may have a negative impact on the economy.
The Finance Ministry is expected to present the proposal for the new gambling regulations soon. According to the information available, these rules will limit the gambling machines activities while the Internet gambling lotteries will be given a preference.
