Slovenian Gambling Bill Fails to Get the Necessary Support

Slovenia has tried to regulate its online gambling market, but the proposed bill failed to receive the necessary parliamentary support.

The country’s lawmakers had been working hard on Slovenia’s new online gambling framework through 2017.

Market Needs Modernization ASAP

Their opinion was that the current law introduced back in 1995 was outdated and could not be used to regulate the modern online gambling market.

If the bill had been approved by the parliament, the Slovenian government would have started the introduction of a new licensing system for the regulation of sports betting and online casino services.

The bill was rejected by the upper house National Council Commission for Economy, Crafts, Tourism & Finance.

Now, the proposal will go back to the National Assembly, where it will have to get more than two-thirds of the house’s approval for resubmission to the Parliament.

State Still Has the Monopoly

The biggest proponent of the bill is MP Branko Zorman, who stated the 1995 law had to be updated to fit the new consumer habits in the digital era and the increasing demand for digital betting services.

Zorman presented the new bill for the first time in January 2017 and noted that around 85% of revenue coming from Slovenian sports betting was flowing out of the country due to the presence of unregulated foreign operators in the country’s market.

The main problem arising from the bill’s rejection is the fact that a number of Slovenian punters will continue to gamble through unregulated websites for sports betting and online gaming, without any sort of protection whatsoever.

Player’s funds could be easily stolen, and there is a danger for them to get involved in online fraud and other criminal activities.

Another thing to remember is the current gambling market in Slovenia is dominated by the state-owned Sportna Loterija, so this monopoly issued can be solved only by the introduction of the new gambling bill.

At this moment, the market is closed for all other companies who wish to offer their services to Slovenian players, but apart from that, the rejection of the latest proposal marked a significant setback in terms of revenues and player’s protection, but also when it comes to creating a free gambling market in the country.