Stricter rules from 2025: EPIS check now also at newspaper shops and more…
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9 May 2024 •
Reading time: 2 minutes Good news for people struggling with a gambling addiction: protection against gambling will be further expanded from 2025.
In addition to casinos, arcades and online gambling sites, newspaper shops, racecourses and mobile gaming establishments must also check their customers for a gambling ban (EPIS). This bill by Minister of Justice Paul van Tigchelt was recently approved by the House.
EPIS check in the newsagent stores? Of course!
From 2025, you may have to show your identity card at your local newsagent to place a bet. This will also soon be mandatory when visiting the racecourse or a mobile gaming establishment.
The reason? Operators of these locations must now check whether their visitors are on the EPIS list, the blacklist for people with a gambling ban. This EPIS check is in addition to the eID check that has already been introduced in many newsagents.
More protection against gambling addiction
With this expansion of the ‘no-go zones’ for people with a gambling ban, Minister Van Tigchelt hopes to better protect problem gamblers from themselves. “The fewer places there are to gamble, the more difficult it is to fall into old patterns,” is the idea behind these stricter rules. That is not without reason.
Thousands of Belgians on EPIS list
The EPIS list of the Gaming Commission (KSC) has been in existence since 2004 and has grown considerably in recent years. The increase is partly due to more attention to EPIS, but also to simplifying the registration procedure via itsme. Thousands of Belgians have voluntarily registered for this exclusion register. In total this concerns about 50,000 people.
Gambling ban for certain professions
In Belgium, gambling is prohibited for certain professions, including magistrates, police officers and notaries. These persons are also registered in the Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS).