Legislation

Belgium – Belgium extends Excluded Person’s Information System to sports betting

The Belgian EPIS (Excluded Person’s Information System), a nationwide self-exclusion register for people who want to exclude themselves from gambling, has been extended to sports betting.

When registering, the player can specify for which period (at least six months) they would like to be blocked. Operators are now obliged to determine the identity of the customer and compare it with the self-exclusion register.

Previously, only land-based casinos, gambling halls and online gambling platforms had to use the EPIS and offer their customers a voluntary registration. By extending the system to local sports betting offices, the Gambling Commission wants to significantly improve player protection once again.

Tom De Clerq, President of the operator association Bago said: “More and more providers are relying on algorithms and artificial intelligence to detect problematic gaming behavior and offer players help, including the recommendation to register in EPIS. If we want to combat gambling addiction effectively, a cross-game blocking system is the right way to go.”