Poll results: Readers back regulator in PoC legal battle
Three quarters of respondents to eGR poll believe the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association will fail in bid to derail Britain's new licensing regime
Next week’s High Court hearing on whether Britain’s new Point of Consumption regulatory framework should be considered “unlawful” will be decided in favour of the UK government and regulator, according to respondents of eGaming Review’s poll.
Three quarters of readers said the case brought forward by the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) “ which claims the regime is a “restriction on the freedom to provide services” as guaranteed by the European Union “ is doomed to fail.
The case is due to start on Tuesday 23 September and the industry body, backed by some of Gibraltar’s biggest online gambling operators, hopes to derail the law changes which will see a 15% Point of Consumption profit tax instated from 1 December.
Just 25% of respondents believe the GBGA will convince the High Court of Justice that the new licensing and tax regime is, as they describe it, “disproportionate”.
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission and the UK government both believe the GBGA’s case should be ruled invalid due to Gibraltar’s status as a non-EU member state.
Earlier this week the Gambling Commission confirmed it is continuing to prepare for implementation of the Act on 1 October.
The regulator also confirmed it had received 161 applications for continuation licences by the close of the licensing window on midnight Tuesday despite a number of operators continuing to weigh-up their future in the re-regulating market.