Spain Considers Deposit Limit System
Author:
Jacob McKenzie
Spain is considering an unusual approach to controlling gaming habits of players within its federal jurisdiction. This step will potentially limit the total amount of deposits that gamers in Spain are allowed to make across all official betting platforms, online and off. This regulation has been proposed by the Spanish Ministry of Consumption, but it is still under consideration by the Spanish federal government and thus open to debate until mid April of this year.
Spain may impose a joint deposit maximum to limit problem gaming across multiple platforms.
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A system of joint deposit limits in Spain
In Spain, the Ministry of Consumption is working together with the organization that regulates gaming across the country at the federal level — the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling or DGOJ — in order to develop a deposit-limiting system to help control gaming of all types.
If finalized, the way this project would work is by creating a directory of players across gaming platforms and physical establishments in Spain. Each player would have their betting information logged across platforms, with a maximum limit imposed for depositing money for any and all gaming activity.
This way, gaming would be tracked not from only one betting provider at a time, but by all that are licensed in Spain. It would mean that a deposit limit for each gamer could be imposed and that loopholes, like switching gaming sites in order to bet beyond site limits, could no longer be accessed — if the program works as intended.
However, it is a big “if.” Though the proposal has support in the Spanish government, those in the gaming industry may oppose it as they worry it might damage potential revenue in the future. Players may also be uncomfortable with the idea.
Though the system would not make player information available — accounts could be anonymized with help of encryption technology, for example — it might still feel like a breach of privacy for gamers.
Finally, the system would only work for licensed gaming sites or physical establishments, which does not address clandestine sites that players might still be able to access from within Spain using technology. Furthermore, gamers with problematic gaming habits sometimes find further loopholes, like signing up under different names, but this measure could help the government to be more stringent about punishing this kind of behavior.
Nevertheless, the proposal is being debated and could be passed. The main reason for the interest behind it is an ongoing push in Spain to limit problem gambling behavior. Though certain measures are in place — like limits on bets on specific platforms, or flagging potentially problematic betting behavior — these are hard to apply to players that regularly use different platforms to place bets.
What are the next steps?
Firstly, the government has shared a public announcement for what it calls a “Royal Decree” project. The Royal Decree 16/14/2011 further develops Law 13/ 2011, with a modification to create joint deposit limits for all players in Spain.
The public may comment on the proposal until April 13, 2023 at 12 pm CET. These can be sent by email directly to the DGOJ. The timeline for the implementation of the project, if it goes ahead, is not yet clear. The DGOJ has also not shared yet what kind of feedback has been sent in by the public.
The DGOJ has likewise not shared what the so-called joint “economic limit” would be for players. It might reflect standard deposit limits for individual betting sites, but perhaps will be increased to accommodate for the use of several sites.
