CYPRIOTS gambled more than £28 million over the internet in 2006, Parliament heard yesterday.
The figures were presented to the House Institutions Committee by credit card company JCC.
But EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos, who suggested the matter be discussed by the committee, said the exact amounts lost online were much higher.
According to Sizopoulos, the JCC figures did not take into consideration the money that was recycled during betting. “Someone might gamble £5,000 in a day but lose just £100. That £100 is the figure JCC is left with,” he explained.
“According to my own estimates, the exact money that is gambled by Cypriots annually on internet betting surpasses £1.5 billion, if we take into consideration all the bets that are placed,” Sizopoulos added.
Internet betting, he added, raised two serious issues: “Internet bets can placed everywhere, which means these sites are accessible to anyone, including children. And secondly, the amount that is lost in taxes by the state through internet betting is astronomical.
“Just imagine that the tax on bets is 25 per cent,” he pointed out.
As deputies attempted to find ways to eliminate the phenomenon, it became clear that the law can do little to restrict Cypriots from betting online.
The spokeswoman for the Legal Services, Nicoletta Charalambidou, said that according to a 2007 European Directive, any restriction on internet betting is prohibited as it affects the freedom of the market.
Other countries’ attempts to impose stricter laws on internet gambling were rejected by the EU, she added, as it was considered an infringement on the freedom to supply services.
“As things stand today, it is very difficult to restrict online gaming, due to the European law.
The line is set very high by the EU on which restrictions can be imposed when it comes to the free market,” Charalambidou pointed out.
But ways can be found to hinder children’s access to the phenomenon, said Charalambidou.
The Finance Ministry’s spokeswoman, Lenia Orphanidou, said the ministry was currently preparing a bill that would offer some control over the problem. A similar bill was submitted to the previous Parliament last year, but it was strenuously rejected by most parties involved, especially by betting agency OPAP.
“The new bill aims to regulate internet betting in a way that, among others, taxes will be paid by the betting company,” she told deputies, adding that the ministry was currently in talks with OPAP and JCC to see how the bill can be regulated.
The head of the Association for Confronting Social Problems (SAKOP), Nicos Rossos, suggested the implementation of a similar system to that of Switzerland, whereby the government approves certain betting sites, which will clearly state the restrictions, protection and tax that gamblers have to pay.
“[The system] will also educate the public on the dangers of web betting and let them know about these sites that are legal, therefore preventing them from becoming victims to the many scams.
“From there it is up to them to protect themselves,” Rossos pointed out.
The Institutions Committee will now evaluate ways to create a legal frame for internet betting, which will aim at preventing underage children from participating and will stop the state from suffering in lost taxes.
“We believe there is a way to restrict the expansion of the phenomenon, especially to ensure that children do not participate and the state stops missing out on taxes, which at the end of the day belong to the public,” said Sizopoulos after the meeting.
