Bulgarian regulator wins case against mobile operator
Cosmo Bulgaria Mobil found to have run unlicensed text-based game.
The Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling has won a case against mobile operator Cosmo Bulgaria Mobil (Globul) after a court decreed that it had been offering an illegal gambling product.
The Administrative Court of Sofia City supported the Commission’s initial action against Globul, first issued in May 2010, according to Bulgarian news agency Novinite.
‘The Big Cash’ game, a Q&A text messaging competition, ran from September to December 2009 with players sending more than 14.6 million text messages at a cost of 1.2 Bulgarian Lev (BGN) per message, making three mobile operators “ Globul, Mtel and Vivacom a total of BGN 17.5m.
However, Globul failed to obtain a licence to run the game as required by the Bulgarian Gambling Act. As a result the court handed the company a BGN 50,000 fine, with a further BGN 15,000 for court costs, a licence fee of BGN 20,000, and BGN 1.3m in taxes to be paid.
The decree follows the passing of a motion to mandate internet service providers to block unlicensed internet gambling sites last week.