French regulator (ANJ) puts its foot down on wagering refusal from operators

The French National Gambling Authority (ANJ) has set strict guidelines towards operators failing to register player bets.

Failure in operators registering players and their wagers (total or partial) has since become a growing concern for the committee, and after several requests, the ANJ had decided to crack down on this legality.

On 2 October 2019, as part of a mission to strengthen player protection, the ANJ made it a priority to combat addictive gambling and prevent excessive wagering.

Following this deliberation in October, the committee stated that any operator offering bets on online sports betting odds can in no way refuse to limit bets, unless there is a legitimate reason behind it.

The decision stated that any refusal to provide a service to a customer will be penalised by a fifth class contravention and prohibited under article L 121-11 of the consumer code.

Any operator which offers betting services and refuses to register it for any illegitimate reason could be charged with deceptive commercial practice, also referred to as article L 121-2 of the customer code.

If the refusal is for legitimate reasons, then an operator may withdraw. These cases are only under the circumstances of excessive or pathological gambling, or underage gaming. Other reasons include money laundering or financing of terrorism.

In any case whereby the operator refuses or limits to register total or partial bets, it must prove the legitimate reason to deny or oppose the wager.

Any operator that consecutively limited wagering without justification will be exposed to the initiation of proceedings before the sanctions committee of the National Gambling Authority.