SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
In the last three months of 2023, Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA) blocked more than 600 igaming websites on the grounds of missing a valid licence.
The watchdog’s most recently published list of breaches include domains like 22bet, luckyhit, leon casino, and more.
According to the NRA, the commissioned analysis found that the websites offered 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.
All operators that the NRA finds incompatible with local regulations must cease their activity in the country within three days of an issued order. If the deadline is not met, 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.
