Russia to introduce payment blocking measures
New online betting regulation could halt the processing of financial transactions involving unlicensed firms
Russia’s government is lining-up the introduction of a payment blocking system as it continues to look for effective ways to reduce the size of the country’s unlicensed online gambling market, eGaming Review has learned.
According to Yury Fedorov, president at Russia’s National Association of Bookmakers, the government will look to take advantage of the country’s developing online betting framework, which is expect to go live by June.
As part of the framework, operators must sign up to a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) which, among other responsibilities, will set up its own payment processing system through which all members’ financial transactions must be channelled.
Once this processing system becomes active, SRO and government officials will have far more information available to detect with greater accuracy transactions involving licensed firms and those involving firms without a permit.
“The SRO will open a processing centre for all legal operators and in the same period the government will send information and instructions to all payments systems in Russia to stop the arrangement of payments for all companies that are not in the SROs,” Fedorov told eGR.
“At the moment the SRO has not opened so at this point the government can’t understand which transactions are legal or illegal.
“Soon it will be able to see that all payments going through the SRO are legal and the rest illegal so it will be simple to detect,” he added.
The Federation has been struggling to get to grips with its unlicensed online betting market. At present, online gambling is broadly illegal in Russia, however some argue its laws do not apply to those without a physical presence in the country.
Russia has attempted to prevent foreign companies from transacting with its citizens through the blacklisting of operators and blocking of domains. In December President Vladimir Putin signed into law a range of new prevention measures including handing the country’s telecommunications state authority power to block websites without prior court order.
Earlier this month Ladbrokes announced it was to withdraw from the country after receiving regulatory advice relating to “recent changes in legislation”.