Fine of up to $5m to be imposed on operators breaching law
Brooke van Velden, internal affairs minister, has announced that a new bill – seeking to safeguard players gambling online and introduce robust measures for licensed operators within New Zealand’s currently unregulated online casino gambling market – passed its first reading in Parliament.
In a news release from the government, van Velden shared that the proposed legislation would move forward to the select committee and encouraged anybody interested to share their insights upon the opening of public submissions.
“Currently, New Zealanders can legally access thousands of offshore gambling websites,” van Velden said in the news release. “But the market is unregulated, so there are no player safety standards or oversight of harm minimisation.”
van Velden explained that the proposed legislation would require licensed online gambling operators to contribute to tax revenue and services seeking to remedy gambling harm in New Zealand.
In its news release, the government noted that the bill would permit the auctioning of up to 15 online gambling licences and impose a maximum fine of $5m on licensed online gambling companies violating the rules.
In its news release, the government said applicants for an online gambling licence should comply with stringent criteria. For example, they should present a harm prevention strategy and give information about their compliance history and business plans.
The government added that operators holding an online casino gambling licence should:
The government’s news release noted that this list of conditions for licence holders was not exclusive and that regulations under development would cover the advertising rules and harm minimisation standards.
The internal affairs department would enforce the new regulatory system, funded by the fees imposed on licensed online gambling operators.
In a previous news release from the government, published late last month, van Velden said the new regulatory system for online casino gambling prioritises minimising harm, protecting players, and collecting taxes.
According to the prior news release, by introducing the bill, the current government seeks to respond to action 21 of the coalition government’s second quarter action plan.
