Italian MPs in mix-up over proposed one-year gaming ban
Motion passed in Senate includes existing operators as well as new market entrants to surprise of MPs
Confusion reigned in Italy yesterday after the government was defeated in a motion which could see all online gaming activity banned for a period of 12 months.
eGaming Review understands that some MPs believed the ban, if enacted, would only impact on operators looking to enter the market for the first time. However, according to a leading gaming lawyer, the ban would also include existing operators.
“According to what has been declared by MPs, the vote was given in a very chaotic session at the Parliament,” DLA Piper senior counsel Guilio Coraggio told eGR.
“Indeed, while according to the initial statements the ban had to refer to new gaming venues, this in fact covered both current and future online platform and electronic gaming systems located in public places.”
If implemented, the one-year ban would come at a severe cost to the Italian public purse at a time of economic uncertainty. Tax entries for the Italian gaming market during the first six months of 2013 totalled 7.5bn.
However, Italy’s minister of finance Fabrizio Saccomanni has declared any such ban would be “unlawful” and lead to claims from existing operators, a massive loss in tax revenues and increased black-market gambling.
“Over 200 operators obtained a gaming licence lasting for a nine-year term against the payment of a relevant fee and held considerable investments,” Carragio explained. “This would be hampered by the ban and therefore lead to indemnity claims towards the State.”
The motion had been tabled by federalist political party Lega Nord, who argued a ban would help protect venerable consumers and curb a rise in gambling addiction which it says has resulted in hardship for families during the country’s drawn out recession.