The bold move by the Greeks to illegally bet their money on unregulated websites is rapidly becoming a scary problem as thousands of individuals are throwing immense sums of money thus creating a shadow market that not only drains the legal gaming industry’s revenue but also attracts government authorities’ attention.
The real picture of the gambling activities in Greece reveals an underground issue of enormous proportions. Based on the government’s figures, gambling in the black market generates more than one billion euros yearly while players are gambling over 1.6 billion euros. Last year, around 800,000 people chose to gamble without a license thus taking away a lot of money from the legal operators. The government wants to put an end to this financial leak. Policymakers are drafting a comprehensive package of new regulations aimed at fundamentally changing the gaming industry and thus fixing a system that has been broken for a long time.
Tough New Laws and Penalties
Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis is the key figure today in the Greek parliament where he presented a tougher bill to regulate the unregulated betting sector. In his speech, he called for the adoption of strong measures to completely eliminate illegal betting operators throughout the country.
It is aimed at making it absolutely clear that they will not allow illegal activities to continue and, at the same time, the lawmakers are expecting gaming companies to fully comply with the law. The scheme is intended to shelter people from the risk of offshore websites and illegal venues. Meanwhile, officials say that the law will be a strong protective tool for families and that it can greatly reduce the level of harm caused by gambling addiction in local communities.
The proposed law, in addition to prison sentences, which are the most severe measure, will impose heavy fines for illegal gambling. Through the identification of unlicensed operators, judges will have the power to end illicit gaming venues and seize the illegal profits. The police will be required to carry out frequent operations in the main cities of Greece.
Consumer Protection and European Alignment
The Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) monitors the illegal gambling sector through a 24/7 internet surveillance system named EEEP. The experts have recently drawn up a blacklist of almost eleven thousand dangerous websites, and the police are constantly finding unlicensed gambling platforms online. This strengthened legislation empowers regulators to clamp down on offenders, thus making Greece a less attractive place for both offline and online lawbreakers, while at the same time, genuine players can expect a safer betting environment.
Another reason why the authorities are after tax evasion through the shadow economy is that they want to protect the ordinary players interests as well. It is hard for gamblers to get legal protection on unlicensed sites because personal data is often hacked or their winnings are not paid out after games are won. The new regime is designed to incentivize consumers to choose licensed operators who are bound by the strictest responsible gaming rules and must provide help to problem gamblers.
Moreover, Greece is joining other European countries in taking action against the subterranean gambling networks.
