Many gambling providers have wanted legalization of online gambling for years. With a few exceptions, it is now so far in all countries that online casinos are allowed to offer their range if they adhere to the sometimes strict requirements. However, this positive innovation also has some disadvantages, as there are now more and more court judgments based on which past losses must be reimbursed. The latest judgment comes from the regional court in Paderborn.
Ladbrokes has to pay 115,000 euros
In order to understand the current court rulings, the previous laws must be observed. While the best online casinos were only recently classified as legal, as is the case with the German State Treaty on Gambling, all online gambling providers have acted illegally up to this point . However, the gambling providers concerned disagreed as they have a license from a European country, for example Malta. Thus, they were of the opinion that the freedom to provide services applicable in the EU applies and that they had presented their online offers in a legal manner
In addition, Germany filed several criminal charges against various providers, but was unsuccessful here. This again confirmed the gambling providers, so that they were even more of the opinion that they were acting in a legal manner. But basically the law of the country in which the online casinos are presented always applies. For this reason, no online casinos should have been present on the Internet until July 1st, 2021 . The only exceptions are the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, which issued some licenses.
This legislation has now resulted in Ladbrokes being sued for reimbursement of gambling losses. The current court ruling dates from September 2021 and was established by the Paderborn regional court.
Losses are from 2018 and 2019
The current case is about Ladbrokes, an online offer from LC International Ltd. This group is based in Gibraltar and has so far also presented its offer in Germany due to the reasons explained above. A woman addicted to gambling took advantage of this offer and gambled away 115,000 euros in 2018 and 2019. Together with her lawyer, the woman sued Ladbrokes and was won. The reasoning of the court is as follows:
After LC International Ltd. If you do not have a license for Germany, all contracts concluded via the online casino are null and void. The further explanation of the court is on the focus of player safety. After all, Germany would have deliberately not allowed online casinos until this year in order to protect people with gambling addictions. Ladbrokes would not have considered that either. For this reason, the gaming provider has to reimburse the loss of 115,000 euros.
Many players will likely use this judgment as a reference judgment and also seek reimbursement for lost bets.
Austria judged like Germany
Germany is not the only country that has drafted such judgments. In Austria, too, there was a ruling by the highest court just a few months ago , based on which a provider from another European country was also urged to repay the losses. The law firm that won this case already has another 2,000 cases demanding reimbursement of their losses.
The providers of online casinos react to this in part by building up large reserves. These are used to compensate for the reimbursements if other players win in court. However, doing so results in a poorer track record and even the withdrawal of supply from certain countries. Precisely for this reason, bet-at-home has already withdrawn from Austria, as the situation is aggravated: the monopoly position still applies in Austria, which is why only Casinos Austria is allowed to make an online offer to gambling fans. This includes both roulette and slots .
Further consequences for gambling providers
The wave of lawsuits and the high success rate lead to massive financial problems for some gambling providers. None of the affected providers will ever have expected to have to reimburse the players' losses. Apart from this , some countries are taking further measures : In Norway, two providers are not allowed to apply for a license , although the online casinos were also licensed here for the first time. This procedure is to be seen as a disciplinary penalty, as only those who have previously offered their casinos without a license are not allowed to apply for a license.
Even with this penalty, the gaming providers record enormous losses in sales. If they had to reimburse additional losses, it is impossible to estimate how much these extraordinary expenses will become a real problem. Only the future will reveal that. But also the limitation of the monthly assignments that exist in Germany lead to a reduction of the income. The future will also show to what extent the corporations will compensate for this.
Source: Mobile Casinos
