The Norwegian Government has launched a consultation process on the country’s newly proposed Gambling Act. The consultation period will run until August 5th 2022 and is open to comments from all stakeholders.
The consultation period was officially launched by Norway’s Ministry of Culture and Gender Equality following the introduction of the new Gambling Act which is set to replace the existing Lottery Act, Totalizer Act, and the previous Gambling Act.
The new Gambling Act will consolidate the various aspects of the three existing acts into one piece of legislation while also introducing some new rules that are necessary as the industry has evolved to include iGaming.
One of those new changes is the introduction of fines for gambling operators who breach the rules of the Act. This is believed to be a direct attempt to penalize online operators who illegally operate in the country despite being unlicensed. As it stands, the only two online gambling operators in Norway are Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.
The government previously introduced new rules in 2021 to combat this activity but the New Act is set to take those rules a step further.
According to the legislation, these ‘infringement fees could see regulator Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet) fine illegal companies up to 10% of turnover if they breach the online gambling rules set out in the Act.
However, the Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gaming has criticized the legislation for not removing the monopoly on iGaming and allowing private companies to operate in Norway under license.
If approved, the new Gambling Act is set to come into force on 1 January, 2023.
