Bulgarian Parliament's budget committee decided on the second reading to ban the advertising of gambling in the media and to have gambling halls only in settlements with more than 10 thousand inhabitants, reported a BGNES reporter.
The amendments to the Gambling Act prohibit the advertising of gambling games on television, websites and print media. It will remain allowed only on billboards and in gyms that are located far from schools, as well as for sports equipment. It was accepted that the gambling investor will maintain the investment throughout the license, and the amount is BGN 750,000.
"In order to get a license, the gaming hall must be located no less than 300 meters from prohibited objects, including educational institutions," emphasized Yordan Tsonev from DPS, who is one of the importers.
The budget committee decided that there would be no gambling halls in settlements with less than 10,000 inhabitants. "With this change, gambling halls are prohibited in settlements with less than 10,000 inhabitants, and this does not apply to resorts and border areas," specified Yordan Tsonev.
The Ministry of Finance stated that 104 are the towns where the gambling halls must be closed.
It was accepted that 10% of the area of each advertisement should be occupied by the inscription that "gambling carries the risk of addiction".
The gambling investor must also pay a socially responsible fee, which for online betting will be BGN 100,000, and bonuses in advertisements also fall.
50% of the contribution made by gambling operators will go to the Ministry of Health for the treatment and therapy of gambling addicts.
The budget committee also decided that people who are registered in the register and receive social assistance should not have access to the gaming halls.
"They will not have the opportunity to unsubscribe from the register if they are receiving social assistance," said Bozhidar Bojanov from We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB).
The introduction of software to ensure maximum downtime on the internet pages of the gambling operator was also adopted.
It is also introduced the requirement in gaming halls and gaming casinos that the immediate payment of the profit be up to BGN 10,000 in cash, and the rest within the next working day.
Persons who publish, broadcast or distribute advertising of gambling games are punished with a pecuniary sanction of BGN 10,000 to BGN 30,000 or a fine in the amount of BGN 5,000 to BGN 10,000.
The Council for Electronic Media (CEM) will supervise the advertising content in the media space and, in case of detected violations, will refer to the National Revenue Agency (NRA).
In the event of a violation, the executive director of the National Revenue Agency sends a notification to the organizer of the established violation and gives him a one-month period to stop the violation and remedy the consequences. The ban will not apply to the broadcasting of the draws of the Bulgarian sports totalizer.
The commission accepted a fine of BGN 5,000 for the first violation, BGN 20,000 for the second violation, and revocation of the license for the third. /BGNES
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