Portugal to regulate online gambling
EU country announces plans to widen gambling beyond state monopoly as part of a tax raising measure
Portuguese authorities have announced plans to regulate online gambling in an effort to bring much-needed tax revenues into the country.
The government has set out plans to create a new working group to discuss the online gambling market in Portugal and the European Union within the next three months.
No final timetable has been laid out by the government, but the study will propose regulatory measures in order to open the online gambling market beyond the existing state monopoly.
Currently betting and lottery monopoly Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa is the only operator licensed to offer lottery and sports betting in Portugal.
The monopoly was extended to include electronic services in 2003, making it illegal for other companies to offer online betting with both Betclic and bwin.party forced to withdraw from the market in recent years.
However, in recent years legislators have been considering liberalising the market and a 2011 report estimated such a move could raise as much as 250m in the first 12 months of a regulated market.
The recent announcement was made following a visit to the country by members of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank – otherwise known as the Troika.
The Troika is the creditor responsible for providing Portugal with a 78bn bailout in 2011, with this most recent visit also seeing the country passed for a further 5.5bn cash injection.