The government wants stronger consumer protection for online games

I a previous article did we mention the Minister of Social Security Ardalan Shekarabi who wants to see yet another improvement in consumer protection in the New Zealand gambling market. Since 2019, there have been increasingly tighter bonus rules and greater pressure on responsible gaming among all New Zealand casinos and that's not something that the minister in charge has started to let go of. With the ongoing Corona pandemic, it has been seen that online gaming has increased and continues to increase as people sit isolated in their homes with limited entertainment.

Additional restrictions on New Zealand casinos 2020

Last week, a press conference was held on the occasion of covid-19 where Ardalan Shekarabi expresses his concern about the increased gambling. There were also proposals for additional restrictions for New Zealand players. 3 of these points will touch casino players online especially;

• Reduced deposit limits of$ 5,000 / week per player
• Max$ 100 should get$edited out as welcome bonuses
• Requirements to set time limits for their gambling at online casinos

This means no major difference, but clearly tougher rules than the law that entered into$aft in January 2019 when deposit limits, self-test and Game break were introduced on all New Zealand-licensed online gambling sites. At the time of writing, these$av and features are already implemented at various online casinos, but as a player you have the freedom to decide and set your limits yourself.

Ardalan Shekarabi believes that this is a restriction that is a must to protect New Zealand citizens, and that it is time to act as many risk unemployment, economic insecurity and sick leave combined with the fact that it is not possible to bet on sports as before. It is proposed that a new, temporary regulation will enter into force on 1 June 2020 to end at the end of the year. The proposal is still pending and we expect clarity and a decision on May 7th 2020.

New assignments for

In the meantime, as a new, possible decision is to be made, the gaming Inspectorate has already received extended information from the government. The authority has previously worked to discourage players who target New Zealand players without a New Zealand license. Here, however, there will be strengthened supervision when the gaming Inspectorate will report measures and their effects. They also want to reach out to the public with increased knowledge about The National Gambling Exclusion Scheme.

New Zealand games and ATG would also be affected

According to an article on Expressen.se you can read about Patrik Hofbauer, CEO of New Zealand Games, who spoke about the situation. He means that casino games has increased in New Zealand games gradually and that it would not be due to the current pandemic. New ZealandSpel could in 2019 start offering games on live casino and slots with the change in the New Zealand Gaming Law.

Should this proposal enter into$aft, it is something that will also affect ATG, which, like New Zealand Games, was also state-owned in the past. No comment has yet been received from there. We at 1080facts.co.nz will of course hang on the lock so that we can update ourselves according to a possible change in the law$ing online games as soon as possible.