Germany Interstate Treaty update could solve deposit limit and IP blocking struggles

Speaking during a webinar informing on Germany’s Interstate Treaty on Gambling update, DOCV Vice President Simon Priglinger-Simader said the GGL (Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder) could amend current deposit and slot stakes limits rules.

Back in December 2023, an interim evaluation of the Interstate Treaty was launched to assess the effectiveness of current regulations and make recommendations for improvements. Some of these suggestions are likely to be adopted by the federal states when they amend the law this year.    

Treaty update could address affordability confusion 

There is a great deal of confusion around the regulator’s definition of affordability in relation to current online slots stake limits and sector-wide deposit limits.  

In Germany there is a €1 maximum stake limit on online slots in place, as well as industry-wide deposit limits, as enforced by the 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling. 

Players are also capped at a €1,000 monthly deposit across all regulated platforms. Germany’s LUGAS monitoring system tracks these limits nationally.  

Both measures prevent the licensed sector from being able to provide a competitive offer against black market operators, but are being reconsidered by the GGL as part of its regulatory evaluation. 

Priglinger-Simader said current guidelines will not be applicable from next year and therefore an update is expected before 2026.  

“The aim is to get a sustainable model that provides a long-term plan and security [for operators]. The latest update we got from the supervisory board meeting in May was that the states are now looking to find the definition for the term affordability,” he told viewers. 

Hembury noted increased lobbying efforts from the industry had led the GGL to move away from deposit limits being attached to the individual stake of each player.  

“Pressing questions, namely, ‘What does the regulator expect for those affordability checks?’ have become more virulent now, as we’re looking yet again at an expiry date [for the current rules],” she added.  

Hembury said a working group was formed this year to discuss these affordability questions, and clarification is expected around Q3 or Q4.  

What could the Interstate Treaty update include? 

Hembury believes the GGL could include a concrete definition of what “economic capacity” (affordability) means in its Interstate Treaty update. The term is used within the regulations as a requirement for a player requesting a deposit limit increase, but Hembury says the term has not been defined within any of the regulations.  

“It’s only a term that has been picked up in the explanatory notes, [but] has not been defined in any regulatory document, not even the licences, not the directive and not the Interstate Treaty. 

“I personally at least hope for a definition on economic capacity, if such will be found that is specific enough, but leaves enough wiggle room for a practical implementation that actually works for the industry and each individual operator. It needs to be practically possible to implement it,” Hembury said.  

What about online slots stake limits?  

Similarly, Priglinger-Simader told viewers the GGL’s administrative board aimed to tackle the question of operators applying for increased slots stakes in its next meeting in September or October.   

Again there is uncertainty around how and if operators can apply for increased stake limits across their iCasino products.  

“This is something we definitely want to get solved before 2026,” said Priglinger-Simader.  “[But] the GGL told us several times that they cannot decide, or don’t want to decide on their own, because it’s something the administrative board needs to discuss and find a final decision for.”  

Hembury acknowledged the GGL’s position on this issue had changed in recent months and the regulator is fighting for a more competitive solution for the licensed market.  

One solution she suggested is individual operators applying to increase the stake per spin allowance. This, she said, could highlight the fact there is actually a proper necessity and the need for the administrative board to discuss these pressing matters and prioritise them.  

Finally, the panel addressed IP blocking as a measure to curb the black market. Last year an administrative court in Germany ruled there was no legal basis for the GGL to enforce IP blocking, based on current regulations.  

But Hembury believes the GGL will implement new regulation into the updated Interstate Treaty, to avoid the legal blocking of this measure in future.  

“I assume GGL will have to kind of put their heads together with the Administrative Board and all of the representatives of the federal states and amend the Interstate Treaty. 

“This is something I’m looking forward to because, obviously, it will be the first proper change of the Interstate Treaty since it was instated in 2021,” Hembury concluded.