The Belgian Constitutional Court has ruled that the lack of mandatory verifications of gambling bans for gaming in bars and online lottery games is discriminatory.
Currently, gambling facilities are required to verify whether a player is subject to a gambling ban through the Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS). While this requirement is deemed constitutional, the court finds it unreasonable that similar controls do not apply to bars.
The court has now decided to annul existing legal provisions that exempt bars from the verification requirement. However, these provisions will remain in effect until 31 December 2027 to allow lawmakers time to address the issue.
The court also ruled that online lottery games offered by Belgium’s National Lottery must be subject to prior gambling-ban checks and a minimum age limit of 21 years.
It emphasised that online lottery games pose comparable risks to other online gambling activities, and thus necessitate similar protections. Lawmakers are required to resolve this discrepancy by the end of the year.
This ruling aligns with a previous decision made in late 2022 by the Constitutional Court, which stated that player protection measures should also apply to the National Lottery. That decision included restrictions on advertising by the National Lottery.
Responding to Thursday’s ruling, the National Lottery said it was willing to collaborate with authorities to help update the legal framework.
It stressed that strict player-protection measures were already in place for its online games, including non-negotiable betting limits for all users.
