Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA) has taken action to clean up the region’s igaming sector after blocking more than 600 igaming websites on the grounds of missing a valid licence.
It comes following the NRA detailing that the commissioned analysis found that a host of websites were offering options to set up a player account and participate in online gambling with a variety of payment methods, despite a clear breach of Bulgaria’s gambling laws due to missing licences.
As part of the action, every operator that the NRA deems is incompatible with local regulations must cease their activity in the country within three days of an issued order. If the deadline is not met, further strengthening the strategy, Bulgaria’s Magistrates Court can then request from internet providers to block access to the specific websites.
Bulgaria has recently been focused on strengthening its gambling rulebook, introducing the new anti-money laundering unit “Prevention and Counter Action Against Money Laundering” under the NRA – part of the country’s gambling regulatory overhaul from 2020.
Changes were made after close collaboration with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and MONEYVAL to address the weak points in the country’s stance against money laundering and terrorist financing.
In September last year, the NRA flagged down an additional 150 gambling websites which it deemed illegal after concluding that they have not been licensed to operate in the EU.
Additionally, the government has also increased the licence fee and tax on income significantly. The country’s 2024 budget is expected to bring an additional BGN200m (£88m) from gambling into the treasury.
