Bar games figures: UBA-BNGO demands reliable figures
•
27 Jan 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes On Thursday, January 23, 2025, during the UBA-BNGO meeting, Carlos Pascual, president of the organization, spoke about the figures published by the Gaming Commission (GC). He denounced, among other things, an error of 4 million euros in the figures for GRS machine revenues published for 2023.
An error of almost 4 million euros
Last Thursday, the quarterly meeting of UBA-BNGO was held, during this meeting, Carlos Pascual, the current president of the organization, returned to the figures published last summer by the Gaming Commission.
In its report, the GC published figures showing an increase of 31.41% compared to 2022, yet for 10 years the sector has continued to shrink every year. Café operators have strong doubts about these figures and have requested their revision through a letter sent by UBA-BNGO to the GC.
“On the GRS machines they were almost 4 million euros wrong. They dropped from 34,900,000 to 31 million. But I am convinced that these figures are still far from correct. It remains too high because the largest operators together do not come close to such figures and the smaller ones are not enough to still achieve these figures”
Pascual insisted on the importance of collecting data from all the stakeholders involved to verify the calculations and ensure that the information presented accurately reflects the reality of the sector.
Justified protest
Café game operators have already been accusing the GC for several months of publishing biased or inaccurate data. The error directly affects the gross revenue generated by Bingo and GRS machines, a crucial segment for many Belgian cafés. This type of inaccuracy could harm the reputation and survival of some operators already weakened by tax increases and strict regulation.
This case follows several tensions between the GC and licensed gaming operators. Among the main grievances:
- Lack of collaboration: UBA-BNGO accuses the GC of not consulting stakeholders before publishing the reports.
- Regulatory impact: These figures influence political decisions, such as the increase in taxes in Flanders from 2025.
Faced with growing criticism, the Gaming Commission will have to react to restore the confidence of operators. An independent verification of the figures could be a first step towards increased transparency.
Gambling Club will continue to follow this matter and inform its readers of further developments.