South Africa Moves Toward Legalizing Online PokerPassing of National Gambling Amendment Bill Brings Legal Online Poker One Step Closer |
|
South Africa's parliament yesterday passed the National Gambling Amendment bill which aims to regulate online gaming, including poker.
The bill, sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, stipulates that online gaming vendors would have to obtain a national license and locate their servers and records within South Africa.
Operators will also have to verify the identity and age of all customers, ensuring they are over 18, and facilitate a customer nominated bank account to handle gaming transactions. The DTI claims regulation will protect players and guarantee tax revenue from gambling activities. It chose not to go down the U.S. route of thwarting online gambling as it believes this drives the activity underground.
The bill now goes before the National Council of Provinces, and when this debate satisfies the lower house it will be referred to President Thabo Mbeki to sign into law.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
