The royal decree requiring that betting shops carry out identity checks on their customers will once again come into force after the legal challenge launched by the industry was lost.
In recent years, Belgium has been stepping up efforts to tackle gambling addiction. Already for over a decade, players in casinos, gambling halls and betting online have had to register to verify they are allowed to gamble and are not listed on the Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS). Individuals can voluntarily be put on this list or are added due to debt settlement.
This arrangement has resulted in problematic gamblers shifting towards betting shops, where people on the list could still play. Former Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne worked to extend EPIS control to betting shops from 1 October 2022, a move that led to some 200 betting shops challenging the royal decree.
The battle for tougher protections
In early 2023, the court of first instance in Namur ruled in favour of the challenge led by the betting shops and the application of EPIS controls was subsequently suspended. Not content with the lack of protections however, the Belgian State appealed this ruling and on 24 October the suspension was overturned.
As a result, betting shops will again be obliged to check whether players are on the EPIS list from 1 December 2023, as was the case until mid-January 2023. Known gambling addicts will be excluded from their premises.
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"For years, the gambling industry has systematically fought every measure we take to better protect vulnerable people and gambling addicts. That they want to make profits at any cost on the hood of people who are in trouble is cynical, to say the least," Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt said.
Incidentally, in early October 2023, the Council of Ministers approved a draft law making EPIS verification mandatory for betting machines in newspaper shops. Other measures taken by the Federal Government include limiting gambling advertising since 1 July 2023, introducing a gaming limit for online accounts and combating sham newspaper shops that often turned out to be gambling shops in disguise.
