Casinos protest lack of rules for gambling arcades

Malta's four casino owners have taken legal steps against the government over the lack of regulation for small gaming arcades.

Casino Di Venezia, Dragonara Casino, Oracle Casino and the Portomaso Casino filed a judicial protest against the Finance Minister and the Chairman of the Gaming Authority over the situation, which, they said, is leading to losses due to the unfair competition.

The small gaming arcades which have sprouted all over the island over the past 18 months are offering the public uncontrolled access to gambling.

Unlike the casinos, they held, the arcades are unregulated by the gaming authority.

They can allow people of all ages to gamble and they do not have to pay the 40 per cent gaming tax which the casinos pay.

Moreover, the gaming authority does not monitor their gambling machines to make sure they offer a fair chance of winning as it does with the machines in casinos.

The operators told the court that a small number of these outlets were granted a trading licence by the government and not by the authority.

But despite this licence, these arcades were totally unregulated and not subject to restrictions on the age of the players and the payment of gaming tax.

The authority had proposed regulations for the machines used by these outlets but they never came into effect.

The operators called on the authorities to regulate the situation and to curb irregularities. They held the authorities liable in damages.

Lawyers J.J. Vella and Aldo Vella signed the protest.