Slovakia opens up online gambling market

Online gambling will be legal in Slovakia from March 2019, following passage of an updated gambling act by the Slovakian government.

Under the new legislation operators will now be able to apply for licenses to operate online gambling, sports betting and lotteries, allowing them to compete with the state-owned betting and gaming operator TIPOS.

As part of this process, the act provides explicit definitions and licenses for specific gaming verticals.

Operators will only be given a license if they are located either in the Slovak republic or in another member state of the EU. Licenses cannot be transferred and in the event that a gambling business is acquired, a new license application is required.

Online betting and online casino licenses will cost €3m each, however if an operator applies for both, the cost will be reduced to €5m.

Licenses are available for between two and ten years, dependent on the specific type of game being offered. Online casino and sports betting licenses are valid for an initial five year period with the option to extend for a further five years.

As part of the legislation, a new regulatory and supervisory office will be created to administer the Slovak gambling market. The costs of setting up a new regulator will be bankrolled by a 0.7% tax on turnover for lottery operators, with the calculation basis switching to 0.7% of gross gaming revenue for operators of other gambling verticals.

Further clauses in the legislation require all licensed operators to provide the regulator with full access to any servers used by the business.

Finally, the act introduces tougher player protection measures including restrictions on gaming advertising and the legal requirement to ensure that players who self-exclude via the register of excluded persons are not provided with access to gambling sites.