A new royal decree approved yesterday by the Spanish Government – which will enter into force in six months – considers intensive or risky gamblers those people who accumulate net losses equal to or greater than 600 euros (it is limited to 200 euros in the case of minors 25 years) within three consecutive weeks. This rule contains around thirty measures to prevent problematic gambling behaviour, mainly among young people aged 18 to 25.
In this way, the law will also strengthen the protection of other profiles that already have intensive or risky gambling behaviors, as explained by Consum, which also considers those who have requested to be part of the group of special protection and vulnerability the restriction on access to their game account (self-excluded) and those who have registered in the General Register of Game Access Bans (RGIAJ).
However, the royal decree also provides for general protection measures. Thus, people who open a session to play instant or pre-drawn lottery games will have to set in advance the maximum time and the amount with which they want to play, without the possibility of modifying this during the course of the game. The websites of betting houses and online games must send an informational message every hour that must be read so that the user can continue playing. These messages will contain information about your gaming behavior during the session, such as time played, amounts bet or net losses.
In addition, the rule will oblige operators not to accept credit cards from players considered vulnerable as long as they maintain this dynamic (only nominative and proprietary means of payment can be used) and they must have a telephone helpline for to risky behaviors.
Companies will be prohibited from sending young people between 18 and 25 years of age promotional activities with a purpose unrelated to the game activity, such as, for example, invitations to matches or tickets to shows. Nor can they be included in loyalty programs.
Also prohibited are messages that encourage intensive play, such as “you almost got it right” or “you were close” when finishing a game.
Self-excluded and self-banned people will also not receive commercial communications and, in the case of participants who register with the RGIAJ, they will be prohibited from accessing their accounts, deposits and holdings for a maximum period of 48 hours.
Failure to comply with the new measures will result in fines of up to 50 million euros for very serious violations and the loss of the license. For serious infringements, the fines amount to up to one million euros and can lead to the suspension of the license for six months.
