(Hamburg, 24 September 2012) Lotto24 AG is one of the first private companies in Germany to receive a permit allowing it to broker state-run lotteries via the Internet.
Petra von Strombeck, CEO of Lotto24 AG, states: ‘The permit is a prerequisite for nationwide operations and thus a very important milestone in our short company history.’
After an almost four-year ban of online brokerage under the old State Treaty on Games of Chance, private companies are now permitted to broker state-run lotteries in Germany once again.
The permit is valid for the whole of Germany for a period of five years, excluding the states of North-Rhine Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. The new ‘First State Treaty to Revise the State Treaty on Games of Chance’ (GlüÄndStV) has not been ratified in North-Rhine Westphalia yet. Gaming legislation in Schleswig-Holstein differs from the rest of Germany, in that lotteries can be brokered online without permission.
The newly granted permit includes provisions which will hamper the development of business, especially the restrictive requirements regarding the protection of minors and an obligation to submit tickets in the federal state of the respective player. The company expects these restrictions to apply equally to other market participants.
Further official permits are required for advertising Lotto24’s product range. It is expected that nationwide Internet and TV advertising will not be possible until the GlüÄndStV comes into effect in North-Rhine Westphalia. The company assumes that this will be the case in the course of November 2012.
As soon as the conditions for online brokerage stipulated in the provisions have been met and the necessary online interfaces for brokerage are available in the respective federal states, Lotto24 will expand its activities to the whole of Germany as quickly as possible.
