William Hill Leaves Greek Market

William Hill Online (WHO) has enjoyed great popularity throughout many European countries but it has now decided to pull out of the Greek market. WHO had previously been operating in Greece but due to the warning issued last month by The Hellenic Gaming Commission, it will shut down its activities in the country.

The warning had specifically stated that all online gaming operators would face penalties and possible criminal charges if they did not comply. In response to this, 24 companies chose to comply and were given conditional operating licenses but only after agreeing to first pay back taxes based on up to the past 2 years. Other companies opted to exit the market just as WHO did.

WHO has now filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC) asserting that the EC has failed to take action against the Greece and the nature of its new law. The company is citing the fact that OPAP, the State owned gambling company, is exempt from paying the new gaming taxes while operators from other countries must.

This is certainly not the first complaint that the EC has had to deal with. The EC has been trying to address the issue and come up with a set of gambling laws that will apply to all countries within the European Union (EU) through the European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA) Action Plan. However, the as the financial crisis in EU worsens, it has taken precedent and the plan has been put on hold.