Italian Online Bingo Problems


2/17/10 – Reports emanating from Italy indicate that online bingo operators, licensed only last December as the country liberalised its bingo laws, may have to take a break whilst what has been described as "legal procedural defects" surrounding the licensing decree are sorted out.
 
Initial Italian consumer interest in online bingo was reportedly strong, and a hiatus which could enable more competition to enter the market will be galling for those operators who have already secured licenses but now have to sit back and await a resolution of the irregularities.
 
The action appears to be taking place in the administrative courts of the Lazio region, where the judiciary has found that approval of the decrees regulating online bingo was not compliant with the formalities required by Italian law. The defects were noted as long ago as last October, but now a Court of Appeal decision has been sought in order pressure the AAMS regulating authority to address the legal obstacles