The office of the president of the Czech Republic confirmed Wednesday that president Milos Zeman has signed a number of bills into law to re-regulate the country’s gambling market, with the new laws set to come into force on January 1st, 2017.
The new legislation allows gambling operators from the European Union and European Economic Area to apply for licensure to offer a broad spectrum of games to Czech players, both online and in land-based venues.
The following bills were signed into law by President Zeman on June 7th.
256/10 – Law on gambling (CZ)
257/10 – Law on tax on gambling (CZ)
258/10 – Law amending certain laws in connection with the adoption of the law on gambling and the law on tax on gambling (CZ)
The Czech government must now draw up secondary technical regulations for the market, although this is not expected to significantly delay the start of the licensing process.
Until now the Czech online gambling market has been largely unregulated with foreign operators prohibited from securing a licence without establishing a local base. This was seen as discriminatory by the European Commission, which launched infringement proceedings against the country in November 2013, prompting the new legislation.
Source: actconsultus
