Greek consultation could introduce self-exclusion register
Members of Greece’s gambling market are asked to give their opinions on the new proposed measures.
The consultation will close on 15 September. The suggested new measures will be implemented if they are accepted by Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance.
In a release on its website, EEEP said the draft legislation focuses “on the regulation of matters of administrative control and operation of casino businesses”, with the consultation put in place to “formulate the views of each interested part”.
The regulator hailed the proposed changes as “key innovations”.
Improved player protection
One new proposal is the overhaul of Greece’s existing player protection laws. This includes the creation of a self-exclusion register.
The register will be maintained by EEEP. The regulator must note certain information about the banned player, such as the duration of the ban and the licensee that received the ban request.
If passed into law, the draft regulation would allow players to choose the duration of their self-exclusion period. This would range from one week to 10 months.
Self-exclusion can only be lifted if the time period has passed and the self-excluded player has submitted a request to lift the ban.
Player cards and staff training
The draft law also outlines the possibility of an individual player card. This would allow players to participate in games in casinos while being linked to their online account.
Licensees will also be obligated to train staff on the contents of Greece’s gambling regulations. This will involve providing specialised education and training programmes.
A training manager must also be appointed, who must provide information about relevant education and training to EEEP upon request.
Further proposals
The draft law would also require a studio space to be located in every licensed casino.
Live dealer games would be operated from this space. Casinos would also be required to install specialised equipment in this space.
EEEP also outlined a number of optimisation proposals. This would see a financial security reserve made mandatory, along with more obvious notifications of opening hours.
Greek gambling history
Greece’s gambling market was regulated in 2011 with the passage of its original Gambling Act.
The following year, the government issued 24 transitional licences to operators as part of a transition period.
In January 2020, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted draft gaming regulations to the European Commission. These draft regulations had been passed by the Greek parliament in October 2019.
The original 24 licensees were allowed to continue operating until 31 March 2020, after which they had to reapply under the new licence provisions.