ANJ intensifies actions against unlicensed operators

l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s unified gambling regulator, has intensified its regulatory actions against unlicensed operators, deemed to be illegally targeting French consumers.

The French public have been reminded that France’s online gambling market is composed of 17 licensed operators and Francaise des Jeux (FDH) which serves as the government’s sanctioned national lottery operator.

In March 2022, the French government granted ANJ the authority to command ‘administrative IP blocking and website delisting orders’ – approved as a tool to utilise “in the field of combating illegal gambling sites.”

As such the ANJ has published its blacklist of gambling websites subjected to blocking and delisting orders.

Updated monthly, the blacklist includes unauthorised websites operated by Campeonbet, Casinoextra, Dublinbet, Kahuna Casino, Winmachance, MyStake, WinUnique, VegasPlus, and YBet. The blacklist also features affiliate websites/domains promoting unlicensed casinos, a product that is illegal under French gambling laws.

Unlicensed operators have been warned that, the ANJ has been authorised  rights  by France administrative court to demand French internet service providers to block access to sites offering illegal gambling and sites promoting them

Since the first administrative blocking and delisting order was issued by the ANJ president on June 13, 2022, a total of 152 orders have been executed, leading to the blocking of 532 URLs related to illegal gambling and betting content. The processing time for a case has been reduced to between 1-to-2 months.

In its campaign, ANJ warned the public that illegal websites pose numerous risks to players, such as personal data theft, payment fraud, malicious software installation, non-payment of winnings, lack of protection against excessive gambling and minors’ gaming, and no legal recourse in case of disputes.