Pursuant to the amendments adopted by the National Assembly by the Act Amending and Supplementing the Gambling Act, with effect from 8 August 2020, the State Commission on Gambling (SCG) is dissolved (§81(1) of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act Amending and Supplementing the Gambling Act).
In connection with the administration of the processes and activities for licensing, servicing, control and recovery of public claims under the Gambling Act, upon transfer of the functions of the abolished State Commission on Gambling to National Revenue Agency (NRA), as of 8 August 2020 the following has to be taken into account:
- The powers of the SCG chairman and members shall be terminated (§83(1) of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act Amending and Supplementing the Gambling Act). The state supervision in the field of gambling and gambling activities shall be carried out by the Director General of the National Revenue Agency, who may assign his/her powers to a Deputy Director General of the Agency authorised by him/her.
- Until the registers referred to in Article 20 of the Gambling Act are established, the registers established by the State Commission on Gambling pursuant to the current procedure shall be maintained. The new registers referred to in Article 20 shall be established by NRA within 6 months of the entry into force of the Act (§81(6)).
- Administrative and administrative-criminal proceedings initiated before the State Commission on Gambling and not completed before the entry into force of this Act shall be completed by the National Revenue Agency (§85, para. 1)
- In connection to the licensing procedures, it is necessary to keep in mind the following:
- Proceedings on applications for issuing a license, continuation or modification of an issued licence, approval of types and modifications of gaming equipment, jackpot systems, gaming software, including the central computer system, online betting systems, communication equipment, including the local control server, and self-service devices for organization of lottery games, allowed for use on the territory of the country, which have been initiated and not completed before the entry into force of the Act, shall be completed under the current requirements within 6 months of the entry into force of the act, unless this period is shorter than the period for ruling prescribed by the law (§ 86(1)). Pursuant to § 85(3) of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act Amending and Supplementing the Gambling Act, when the court returns the file for a ruling by NRA, the time limit for ruling shall be 6 months from the entry into force of the Act Amending and Supplementing the Gambling Act, unless this period is shorter than the period specified in the decision or in a law.
- On applications for issuing a license, continuation or modification of an issued license, approval of types and modifications of gaming equipment, jackpot systems, gaming software, including the central computer system, online betting systems, communication equipment, including the local control server, and self-service devices for organization of lottery games, allowed for use on the territory of the country, submitted after the entry into force of the Act, the competent authority shall decide within 6 months of its entry into force, unless this period is shorter than the period for ruling prescribed by the law (§ 86(2)).
- Licences issued until the entry into force of this Act shall remain valid (§87(1)). Pursuant to § 87(2), the term of validity of the issued licenses, for which proceedings have been initiated under § 86(1) and (2), shall be extended until the expiry of the deadline for ruling, or until the decision of the Director General of the National Revenue Agency, if earlier.
5. Unsubmitted declarations, due but unpaid liabilities, and unsubmitted data for reporting periods before the entry into force of this Act shall be submitted and paid to the National Revenue Agency (§ 90). Declarations and data for reporting periods before the entry into force of the amendments to the Gambling Act shall be submitted to the National Revenue Agency electronically to email address: nap@nra.bg, signed with an electronic signature.
6. Pursuant to § 100, the regulations issued until the entry into force of the act shall apply until the amendment, respectively the issuance of the new acts, insofar as they do not contradict it.
7. Submission of information on online betting by remote gambling organizers (operators).
With regard to the Act Amending and Supplementing the Gambling Ac (the Act), published in SG No 69 of 4 August 2020, from the date of entry into force of the Act — 00:00 hours on 8 August 2020, the remote gambling organisers (RGO) shall continue to submit the information via a leased line to an information system and server of the National Revenue Agency (NRA), which is provided by NRA individually to each remote gambling organiser.
In carrying out the above actions, the requirements of Article 6(1)(4) of the Gambling Act and Ordinance No 1 of 27 February 2013 on the order and procedure for identification and registration of the participants, the storage of data on organised online betting on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, and the submission of information on gambling games shall be deemed to be fulfilled.
As of 00:00 hours on 8 August 2020, the obligation to submit information to the State Commission on Gambling expired.
For technical questions, you can contact NRA at the following email address: gambling@nra.bg.