Lithuanian Gambling Authority Penalizes Licensed Operator for Illegal Gambling Promotion
Author:
Muhammad Gregory
Earlier this week, iGaming operator Baltic Bet was slapped with a hefty fine for promoting its brand’s domain online. The Lithuanian Gambling and Supervisory Authority was forced to impose the penalty because the promotional activity did not comply with the Gambling Act of the nation, as the Baltic state has implemented a complete ban on all gambling and gambling-related activities within its jurisdiction. The violation of Article 10, Paragraph 19 of the gambling law of Lithuania has resulted in a fine worth €16,705 for Baltic Bet.
Earlier this week, iGaming operator Baltic Bet was slapped with a hefty fine for promoting its brand’s domain online.
?Victor Malyushev/Unsplash
The Lithuanian gambling market has been regulated for over 30 years. However, during the initial phase of regulation after 1992, only the lottery segment was legal, leaving all other segments under the illegal category. The strong potential contribution of all segments of gambling to the country’s GDP encouraged officials to work on establishing a law that would legalize more forms of legal gambling in the Baltic state. Less than ten years after the legalization of the lottery segment, the 2001 Gaming Law of the Republic of Lithuania came into force. This law is still in force today, but several amendments have been made to ensure the highest standards of gambling conduction, operator compliance, and player safety. Based on this Gambling Law, the Lithuanian Gambling Authority regulates one of Europe’s most active and competitive gambling markets. One of the most important amendments came in 2016, allowing online gambling to be legalized. This allowed local Lithuanian iGaming operators, as well as foreign online gambling providers, to apply for a gambling permit in the nation.
Despite being just seven years old, the online gambling market in Lithuania runs efficiently under the constant supervision of the country’s central regulator. Several iGaming operators have gained gambling permits and offer online casinos, virtual slots, and more options. Last year in July, more amendments were made to the Gambling Law of Lithuania. These new amendments led to the introduction of a new gambling license that was exclusively issued to iGaming operators for organizing remote gambling services in the jurisdiction. Over the years, several renowned operators like BetSoft, BetSafe, and 888 Casino have entered the Lithuanian market after attaining their respective gambling permits from the nation’s regulator. Apart from regulating the market and issuing licenses to applicants, the Lithuanian Gambling Authority also has to ensure that player safety standards in its jurisdiction are at the highest possible point. To do that, the regulator must do everything in its power to keep illegal operators away whilst also keeping an eye out for illicit activities like match-fixing and money laundering.
Simultaneously, the regulator also monitors the activity of licensed operators. Obtaining the gambling permit does not mean that the operator can function according to its own whims and fancies. The conduction of all legal gambling activities has to be in compliance with the Gambling Law of Lithuania. Any breach in the code automatically results in a penalty that the Lithuanian Gambling Authority issues. Since the regulated markets in the Baltic state went live, several operators have been penalized due to various breaches that were caused either intentionally or unintentionally. Regardless of intent, the penalty for the breaches remains the same. Local operator Baltic Bet became the latest gambling operator to receive a fine of €16,705 after violating Article 10, Paragraph 19 of the Lithuanian Gambling Law. The breach was caused by Baltic Bet’s online activity between November 2022 and February 2023, which was deemed to be a promotional activity as it encouraged players in Lithuania to gamble on the operator’s brand, Optibet (www.optibet.lt).
Plethora of fines for Top Sport this year
This is not the first time the Lithuanian regulator has fined Baltic Bet’s brand. Last year, Optibet was fined for a similar violation. The operator sent emails to over 10,000 players. These emails comprised only the operator’s updated terms and conditions without any promotional phrases or links. However, this was still considered a marketing activity for which the operator was penalized. The brand was responsible for another infringement in 2021 when it offered gambling activities that did not comply with the nation’s law. The Lithuanian Gambling Authority issued a fine of €12,450 for that offense.
Despite being fined for a third successive year in the country, Baltic Bet is not the most fined operator in Lithuania. Occupying that unwanted spot is local gambling operator Top Sport. Last year, Top Sport was penalized three times for three different violations. This year, it has already surpassed last year’s tally of fines after being penalized six times in the opening six months of the year. The complacency of the operator has put its license in jeopardy. The regulator could be looking at issuing a stern revocation warning to the local operator if the violations continue. The only saving grace for Top Sport is that the violations came in different sections.
Repeated violations could have forced the regulator to issue a license cancelation notice to the operator. However, since it seemed like all of Top Sport’s breaches were caused unintentionally, the regulator has only issued fines and not put the operator’s permit at stake. Like Top Sport, Amber Gaming is another operator that has been penalized on multiple occasions. Between last year and this year, the operator was fined four times. In this case, the regulator issued a permit suspension warning to Amber Gaming. The notice was to cease activities violating the law, which Amber Gaming eventually complied with.
85% of Lithuanian iGaming revenue comes from legal gambling
The Lithuanian Gambling Authority recently published the results of a survey that was conducted by H2 Gambling Capital in 2021. The survey was conducted across the regulated gambling jurisdictions of Europe and the United Kingdom to see how many players opt for legal online operators in each jurisdiction.
Lithuania is ranked seventh on this chart behind Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Romania, Denmark, and Sweden. The survey shows that 85 percent of the Gross Gambling Revenue (GGR) was generated via licensed iGaming platforms in Lithuania. The Baltic state is ranked higher than its neighbour, Estonia, and is also ahead of Portugal and Spain.
The GGR of the remote gambling segment in 2021 in Lithuania was €120,196,243. A total of €102,166,806 was generated via licensed iGaming operators, while €18,029,437 was generated on illegal remote gambling platforms. This made 15 percent of the total GGR. The Lithuanian Gambling Authority intends to bring this figure down even further in the upcoming years.
