German court rules against Red Rhino in latest blow for operator
Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt rules against operator following its appeal in relation to allowing payments on platform.
Germany’s Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt rejected Red Rhino’s application to legally allow gambling payments to be made on its website.
The decision, made on 26 October, follows the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder’s (GGL) decision to slap the operator with a €50,000 fine for offering illegal gambling in Germany last month.
In tandem with that fine, the GGL prevented payment suppliers from sanctioning payments on the Red Rhino platform.
Red Rhino challenged this ruling with Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt under the guise that the prohibition order would have prevented deposits and withdrawals for legal games in Germany.
While the Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt said the application could not be denied due to the potential conflict of interest, it moved to dismiss Red Rhino’s application as it backed the GGL’s initial decision.
The court pointed to the existing German gambling regulations, which allow for the GGL to block payments connected to illegal gambling.
The Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt added that payment suppliers “cannot determine with complete certainty when making a decision whether the respective payment is made from Germany or abroad”.
The court added that payment blocking was in line with the “principle of proportionality”.
A court statement read: “In the specific case, the gaming authority’s discretionary decision, which was based on the potential danger of online gambling and the fight against the risk of addiction, cannot be objected to, especially since illegal gambling in Germany was a mainstay of the applicant’s business operations.”