Montenegro Bet: Three reasons why the proposed Law on Games of Chance is unsustainable

The adoption of the Proposal for the new Law on Games of Chance in Montenegro, to put it mildly, was implemented behind the backs of the organizers themselves, and the content of the thus adopted document caused justifiable dissatisfaction among the organizers and experts in the legislative process.

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Photo: Shutterstock
Photo: Shutterstock
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

There are several key problems with this proposed law.

1) Lack of transparency

Transparency and publicity should be the basic principle of any legislative process, and in the case of the process of adopting the proposal of the Law on Games of Chance, they were completely absent.

In particular, the proposal of the Law was adopted without publication of the report from the public discussion within the 15-day period stipulated by the law.

The promised additional consultations with the organizers and the media remained just words.

2) Discrimination and inconsistency

The proposed Law introduces new, very rigorous, and perhaps more importantly, absolutely inconsistent restrictions on the advertising of games of chance. Digital advertisers are particularly affected – certain channels are favored, while others are practically shut down. This is a direct attack on the freedom of advertising, expression and entrepreneurship, and that in a country that lists membership in the EU as its highest foreign policy priority.

How to justify such bans if there is no clear, proportionate and reasonable explanation for them? From the point of view of EU law, there is no answer - it is pure discrimination.

3) Introducing double taxation is a haven for the black market

The occurrence of de facto double taxation worries much more than the fee increase itself, as it is planned to introduce starting fees of 1.000 euros for bookmakers and 3.000 euros for slot machines.

Another key issue is the planned change in loss accounting. Until now, the preparers could use the losses at certain payment points to reduce the total tax base. The new law provides that losses are no longer counted, which increases the same for variable fees, now proposed at 15% instead of the previous 10%. You don't need to be an economic expert to see that such measures lead to unsustainable conditions for business, the shutdown of legal organizers, the growth of the gray market and, of course, no matter how paradoxical it may seem, the drop in the level of budget inflows over time.

The interested and expert public appeals to the Government to urgently review and correct this bill, include all relevant parties in the dialogue and harmonize the legal provisions with international standards and practices that protect the rights and interests of both organizers and users of games of chance.

( Montenegro Bet )