A Bulgarian court has given internet service providers 24 hours to block local access to 19 websites, including the main dot.com domains of Bet365, 888, Betfair and Ladbrokes.
The Presdent of the Sofia District Court issued the court order today under instruction from the Bulgarian Gaming Commission (BGA), with the 24-hour period beginning at 6pm tonight local time.
This follows the publication last Tuesday of the BGA’s first blacklist of websites offering online gambling without a local licence issued under the country’s Gambling Act, which gave the companies three days to voluntarily block Bulgarian players from accessing their websites or be subject to ISP blocking.
Other high-profile operators with sites listed in today’s court order include Betfred, Sportingbet, Bet-At-Home and Unibet.
Offsidebet also appeared on today’s list, despite having taken the decision to exit the market some four months ago, Casino Choice understands.
Under the Gambling Act which came into full force on 1 July last year, any persons found to be organising games without a local licence also face a minimum fine of BGN20,000 (approx £8,700), rising as high as BGN5m (approx. £2.2m) if the proceeds from the unauthorised games of chance exceed BGN5m.
All the operators on the list are however “organising games” from outside of Bulgaria, presumably making enforcement difficult for the local authorities.
The new Gambling Act for the first time provided a framework for regulation of online operators, but the licensing process has yet to open. Important details, such as the level of tax to be levied on operators, were not included in the Act and remain unresolved at this stage.
Article written by Stephen Carter
