The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (LVAT) has overturned a penalty against betting firm TopSport LT for accepting remote bets from foreign customers.
Last year, Lithuania’s Gaming Control Authority (LRV) imposed a €15,000 ($16,100) fine on TopSport following an investigation triggered by anonymous complaints submitted to the authority.
The investigation revealed that TopSport had voided the gambling winnings and blocked the account of a customer who lived in Riga, Latvia.
LRV determined that TopSport had violated the licensing terms of the Gambling Act by offering betting services to a foreign customer, and subsequently imposed a €15,000 ($16,100) fine via the District Court of Vilnius.
The fine was issued prior to the Seimas introducing a new age restriction of over-21 and user verification requirements for remote and land-based gambling operators, approved in June 2024.
TopSport challenged the LRV’s legal interpretation, asserting that existing laws did not stipulate that a person must be prohibited from gambling in Lithuania if they are not a citizen of Lithuania or do not live there.
Furthermore, TopSport argued that Latvian laws do not forbid citizens from gambling remotely in Lithuania: “Legal acts of the Republic of Latvia do not prohibit Latvian citizens from participating in remote gaming organized in Lithuania, so the company had no reason to prevent a third party from participating in remote gaming.”
As such, Top Sport maintained that it had no obligation to restrict foreign access to its site and highlighted that technologies like VPNs make it challenging to control users’ locations.
The Gaming Authority argued that TopSport’s gambling license applies only within Lithuania and that operators cannot legally provide betting services to foreign customers.
Reviewed by the Supreme Court, the judgment deemed that at the time laws for remote gaming simply restricted licensed operators from accepting customers under 18 or those who had not verified their identity, per Lithuanian law.
The Supreme Court concluded that the LRV must modify or amend articles of Lithuania’s Gambling Act in order to impose fines on engagements with foreign customers. TopSport is one of nine operators licensed for remote gambling activities by the LRV
From 1 January 2025, the Seimas will introduce a new tax framework for gambling, increasing income rates from 20% to 22% for slots, casino games, bingo, and remote betting.
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