Online Gaming in Greece

In 2012, it looked like the Greek market was opening up to commercial competition. In November 2012, Greece began issuing temporary licenses to online gaming operators, giving them permission to offer their services in Greece.

But then Greece revoked the temporary licenses, freezing the competition out of the market, and allowed OPAP to implement and expand its online gaming operations.

Greece has also blacklisted more than 400 online gaming sites. ISPs are expected to block access to blacklisted sites, and banks are not permitted to process transactions with sites on the blacklist.

The Remote Gambling Association and the European Gaming & Betting Association are challenging Greece's new online gaming regulatory framework.

In March 2015, the Greek government announced plans to issue new online gambling licenses in an effort to raise EUR 500 million a year for the country. The licenses would cost EUR 3 million each and would be valid for five years.

In May 2016, tax on gross gaming revenue increased from 30% to 35%.

In September 2017, Greece’s Ministry of Finance announced plans to revamp its online gambling market, allowing the 24 operators who have been operating on "transitional" permits since 2011 the opportunity to apply for new licenses. Applicants must base their Greek-facing operations’ servers within the country and establish accounts with locally licensed payment processing institutions. Operators must also conduct their Greek-facing business via a .gr domain.

In October 2020, the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) revealed that it started the process to register key personnel, suppliers and services for its licensing procedure, including online gaming. The gambling regulator stated that all legal entities, including shareholders, key executives, manufacturers, technology suppliers and certification bodies coulld apply for obtaining licenses for online gaming and betting. Greece’s Parliament had passed the Gambling Regulations in October 2019 and its Ministry of Finance had submitted the draft of regulations with amendments and controls to the European Commission for approval.

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