Russia approves new streamlined sports betting registration laws

The Lower house (State Duma) of Russia’s Federal Assembly has voted to approve the passage of new measures aimed at reducing the complexity of registration for the country’s licensed online sports betting sites.

Federal bill 423799-7 aims to remove so-called ‘duplicate identification’ procedures that require individuals to first register online with a licensed operator and Russia’s centralised payment hub TSUPIS.

Individuals must also then visit retail premises in person to provide physical proof of their identity before any bets can be made.

The bill asserts that these procedures encourage players to find ways to circumvent existing state ISP blocking methods to gain access to unlicensed international operator sites.

“As a result, the effectiveness of measures aimed at combating illegal gambling is reduced and conditions are created for the flow of large amounts of money into offshore jurisdictions,” the bill explains.

Under the new rules, licensed operators can delegate the responsibility to conduct ID verification back to the TSUPIS system, which will then have three days to provide the betting operator with a full verification record.

The streamlined measures cap a RUB60,000 (£750) per individual transaction on a Russia-licenced betting site and impose a cap of RUB200,000 (£2,500) for all transactions by a player in a given month. However, individuals can exceed this limit if they provide physical proof of their identity at the operators’ retail premises.

The bill will now pass to Russian President Vladimir Putin for final signature.