GVC Holdings Withdraws Czech Republic Licence Application

The online gaming operator GVC Holdings has withdrawn its application for a licence from the Czech Ministry of Finance, as it has said the country’s new licensing regime is unworkable.

Last week GVC informed its players living in the Czech Republic through the gaming sites of Bwin and PartyPoker that it has withdrawn its licence application as the new Czech gaming law it is not compliant with the European Union principles.

That was the message in Bwin’s site, translated in English, according to Poker Arena which is the local poker news outlet:

“Our goal is always to offer our customers a reliable and secure gaming experience and ensure that we offer our gaming products only if we are sure that everything is in full compliance with the law. As stated above, we have asked for the release of several Licences that will allow us to provide our gambling services within the Czech Republic. However, during the process of these applications, it has been shown that the recent changes in the legislation of the Czech Republic, together with the application in practice by the Czech authorities, are incompatible with the principles of the European Union and can not therefore be applied. We fully support the development of a regulated and well-functioning online gaming market in the Czech Republic and we hope that the Czech authorities will consider the emerging issues and will work with operators to successfully achieve this goal.”

According the new Czech gaming law, the taxes of the online operators are from 23% of sports betting revenue to as high as 35% for online slots play, on gross revenue.

With this decision of lawmakers to impose such a high tax, it will result in the country’s negative attractiveness to foreign entrepreneurs.