A proposed amendment to the Hungarian Gaming Act that levies fees on operators is coming under fire from the Remote Gaming Association (RGA).
Under the terms of the legislation, Hungary’s online gambling market would be opened up to sports betting and table games (it’s currently limited to horse racing and cards).
Access to those markets, would come with a heavy, up-front price tag and that’s what’s arouse the RGA’s ire. Operators would have to pay a whopping 100m HUF ($451 k) to each product line they launch in Hungary and would only be granted a five-year license.
In a statement posted on their website, the RGA criticized the proposed amendments:
The RGA considers the concession fees to be unrealistically high and likely to deter many operators from entering the market.
The proposed amendments to the Gaming Act definitely give the state-owned sports betting monopoly, Szerencsejáték Zrt (SzRt), a solid head start on the competition. SzRt would be automatically granted a license, though they currently only offer land-based betting.
On a positive note, the RGA applauded the 20% tax on gross gaming revenues. Gross revenue taxes are considered best practice by the European Commission (EC) and have been a major sticking point in other countries with state-owned gambling operations, like Germany.
There’s no word on when the EC will hand down their opinion on the amendments.
Are you thinking about promoting sports betting and casino games to the Hungarian market? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.