Norwegian regulator to crack down on unlicensed operators and their affiliates with new legislation

The Norwegian Government has introduced a new piece of legislation, which will see the country’s regulator crack down on unlicensed operators and the affiliates promoting them.

The new law, first proposed in June 2020, will unify the country’s previous Lottery, Gambling and Totalisator Acts and consolidate the market monopoly shared by Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.

Norway’s Minister of Culture and Gender Equality, Abid Raja said the law would specifically crackdown on operators who are permitted to offer gambling in the country:

“I am pleased to finally be able to present the new gambling law, which is a milestone in the Government’s work to prevent gambling problems and ensure responsible gambling”.

“We are tired of foreign gambling companies that do not respect Norwegian law, and that do not operate with proper accountability measures. Therefore, the new law provides the Norwegian Lotteries Authority with new tools for detecting, reacting to, and sanctioning violations of the law”, he added.

The law is intended to crack down on those who “pass on” customers, like affiliates, as well as the operators marketing gambling without a Norwegian license.

Additionally, under the rule operators will be required to introduce accountability measures, and any marketing to self-excluded gamblers will be banned.

Marketing gambling to children will be a criminal offence, and there is also a blanket ban on gambling with credit cards in a drive to help promote safe gambling habits.

“Things are happening in the gambling field in Norway. The Government has worked consciously for many years with gambling policy and this is yielding results”, Mr Raja added.

“Foreign gambling companies and their payment intermediaries are withdrawing from the Norwegian market, their turnover is declining and advertising is no longer as easy to reach”.