Representatives of the opposition ODS and ANO criticized the form of the decree. According to them, it will mean a loss of income and may have the opposite effect than the intended reduction of gambling and live casino online.
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The basic principle of the decree is to allow so-called live play in urban areas that do not choose zero tolerance, and to ban technical games throughout the territory. Of the 57 city districts, 41 opted for a total ban on gambling, and several town halls unsuccessfully demanded exemptions from the ban for selected businesses. According to councilor Hana Marvanová (for STAN), this is not possible from the point of view of competition law.
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According to Marvanová, the ban on slot machines will lead to the disappearance of companies that are registered as live casinos, but this is represented only by deliberately unattractive games that no one plays, such as rounds of fortune or dice tables. According to the councilor, there are such companies from the 101 casinos that are now allowed in Prague.
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According to Marvanová, the reason for the decree is, in addition to the harmfulness of technical games, also the fact that the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) deals with operators’ complaints about the current decree, which sets out a list of places where casinos may be. According to the councilor, the office has already ruled in the case of Ostrava that this is an infringement of competition and has imposed a fine.
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The city districts of Prague 1, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 and Zličín wanted to include in the decree a list of places for which the ban on technical games would not apply. Marvanová said today that she would consider it ideal to establish a list of companies that would be maintained only by real hotel-type casinos, but this goes against the opinion of the Office. According to the council’s exception, it does not exclude, but requires the establishment of objective criteria for their award.
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Marvan said she was trying to meet the requirements of the town halls, but the companies proposed for exemptions did not meet any objective criteria. “I cannot submit a decree that would be contrary to competition law,” the councilor summed up.
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