The Republic of Cyprus is aiming to give players more control over their gambling preferences. The Cyprus National Betting Authority (NBA) announced it is planning to launch a self-exclusion platform, which will allow users to opt-out of the betting experience and be excluded from all locally licensed sports betting services.

NBA is currently holding a public consultation on the issue, looking to hear from customers of licensed retail and online bookmakers, as well as relevant stakeholders and betting licensees.

The inquiry is set to end 24 July.

NBA aims to turn the platform into an intuitive gambling tool and users who wish to be excluded and “who are referred to counselling and treatment services should also be offered proper guidance and incentives”, as outlined in a statement. The proposal further says that licensed bookmakers and “public awareness campaigns” should inform players about the existence of the platform. And in case of exclusion, any remaining money in a player’s account who has requested to be excluded should be refunded by online operators within five days.

Both online and land-based betting bookmakers that “exclusively apply player identification systems” are obligated to participate in the self-exclusion platform. Players will have the chance to select a period for self-exclusion, or they can opt-out permanently.

Cyprus has nine licensed online betting operators and six retail bookmakers.