Austria established a gambling monopoly a few years back. This effectively restricted the market to Casinos Austria, a state-backed gambling operator. This operator held the monopoly for many years and effectively limited the market by claiming that all other operators offering their services in the country do it illegally.
Three Austrian courts have supported this ruling, which states that illegally operating companies in the country should be reimbursed their customers. Many operators continue to offer their services in the country, resulting in thousands of gamblers wanting to recover their gambling losses via court cases.
According to AdvoFin data, Oliver Peschel, G&L Rechtsanwalte and The Financial Times, approximately 2,500 gamblers received a refund of losses amounting to EUR75.8million ($80.7 million) in January. Out-of-court settlements and court rulings resulted in the money being paid out. Companies that assisted in the process received a portion of the payouts.
Flutter and888, two of the most prominent operators offering their services in Austria, disputed the monopoly. They claimed that it violated the legal principles the European Union. “The group continues contesting the compatibility of Austrian licensing with EU law,” stated 888. PokerStars, however, claimed that its services can be legally offered in Austria because of its license from Malta. This is “in accordance to the freedom of service across member states under EU legal.”
Gamblers still owed millions
The new report shows that EUR34 million ($36.2million) has still not been paid to Austrian gamblers. According to reports, Flutter and 888 are the two companies due to return money gambling in Austria. Due to their position on the gambling regulations in Austria, Flutter and 888 sought to solve this problem by going to Malta’s courts, which is the jurisdiction that has licensed them.
It is not the only jurisdiction in which legal issues about an operator may arise. This is primarily because different regulations can be effective in different jurisdictions. There are directives that can be effective for large areas, such as those established by the EU to protect the Old Continent. It is not clear when this legal battle will end, given the efforts of the parties involved in Austria.
