Austrian Player Mandated to Refund Illegal Gambling Wins
A player in Austria has been ordered by the Supreme Court to return their winnings to an unlicensed unnamed operator after it was ruled that they both breached Austrian gambling regulations.
In 2021, Austria's Supreme Court ruled that foreign online gaming operators were illegal. (Source: Pepa74, Pixabay)
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:Austria operates a monopolized gambling market in which Casino Austria’s Win2Day is the sole licensed online casino operator. As such, other gambling platforms operating in the jurisdiction or targeting Austrians are considered illegal and subject to legal action.
In 2021, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that foreign online gaming operators were illegal, their contracts with players were invalid, and they were entitled to refund customers’ losses. This has led to players taking action against operators like 888, rebranded as Evoke, and William Hill in a bid to recoup their losses while playing on the sites.
However, in a pivotal judgment, the Supreme Court has established that claims in unlicensed gambling disputes can be bidirectional, enabling operators to file counterclaims against players.
The unnamed online gaming operator initially attempted to reclaim the entire € 7,192 that the player had won between May 2020 and July 2020. However, the court determined that only a portion of the winnings were obtained illegally and ordered the player to repay €626.60 to cover the operator’s legal expenses.
Court’s Motivation for Ruling
The player claimed that the operator’s request for repayment was an abuse of law, given that both parties had knowingly engaged in the illegal activity. However, court documents revealed that Austrian gambling laws did not provide legal safeguards for either the player or the unlicensed operator.
Furthermore, the court noted that the player didn’t adhere to betting limits and did not want to set a precedent that would encourage players to contest future losses in hopes of annulling them.
While the court upheld the operator’s appeal, it clarified that its ruling was not meant to protect the company’s interests. Instead, it stressed that the regulation was intended to combat illegal gambling outside the monopoly and prevent gambling-related harm.
More Regulation News
Refund Rulings Spread across Continent
Austria is not the only country with this player losses refund rule. In 2023, Netherlands courts ordered two gaming operators to refund losses to gamblers. These refer to losses from the operators’ clients before gambling was legalized in the Netherlands in 2021.
A similar case is also brewing in Germany. It examines whether sports betting operators are obligated to reimburse players for losses sustained before the implementation of the State Treaty on Gambling. Last month, the suit was referred to the ECJ, the European Court of Justice for consideration.
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