The Belgian gambling authority wants to prohibit ‘phone games’ because the legislation covering them is out of date.
The Kansspelcommissie wants to stop games played at home by people participating in a quiz through a text message or telephone call.
Such games were “extremely popular” in the early 2000s, a report by the regulator notes, leading to initial legislation in 2004. In 2006, a royal decree adopted the legislation.
The legislation was updated in 2009, before phone games were placed under the licensing system of the Gaming and Betting Act, meaning a licence must be applied for from the KSC for their use.
However, the KSC says its 2020 and 2021 reports on the games have both raised concerns, notably that there is no specific rule on the complexity of questions, leading to potentially complex and misleading answers.
“The prior checking of the content of the games is therefore hardly useful or efficient in practice,” the KSC’s report added.
The Belgian regulator also says it cannot guarantee absolute compliance with the rules and that the number of participants in such games is “extremely limited”, despite the continued workload for the KSC in regulating them.
