MGA cancels a license and issues notice to cancel another
Author:
Muhammad Gregory
The B2B license of the iGaming service and software provider, 4tune Software Gmbh, was canceled by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) after the authority noted a Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations violation caused due to the non-payment of a particular fee. Apart from that, the Maltese regulator also issued a twenty-day notice to gambling operator Totup System Limited for a similar offense. If the operator complies with the MGA, the notice will be withdrawn, and Totup System Limited will retain its B2C gambling license. However, failure to exercise the duties specified by the Maltese regulator will force the Authority to revoke the operator’s license as soon as the twenty-day window is shut.
The B2B license of the iGaming service and software provider, 4tune Software Gmbh, was canceled by the Malta Gaming Authority.
?Micaela Parente/Unsplash
4tune Software Gmbh is a software development company that entered the regulated Maltese gambling market in 2019. The Austrian company has been developing and deploying software for several commercial fields, from clearing systems and warehouse management software for wineries to accounting software and management software for lottery pools. The expertise of over 20 years in the sports betting segment has enabled 4tune Software Gmbh to invent solutions for the same gambling segment. In 1997, the Austria-based entity launched TOPwin and then went on to launch BetSolution in 2010. The BetSolution software comprised BetClient, BetSite, BetApp, and BetAdmin. BetClient helped operators who had Web Shops for their iGaming services. The online sports betting solution came via BetSite, while BetApp solved mobile-based iGaming concerns. It also came with a complete management tool called BetAdmin, which was used to monitor and manage all activities taking place under BetSolution.
In the first four months after its launch, there were over 200 BetSolution installations. Nine years after the launch, 4tune Software Gmbh entered the Maltese gambling market and has legally offered its software services for almost four years. However, the company is no longer licensed in Malta after the MGA revoked its B2B license after failing to fulfill the financial commitments placed under the country’s gambling law. All B2B and B2C gambling services providers and operators are liable to pay a fee for their license permits, renewals, and other miscellaneous costs. The MGA did not reveal the amount or category of the payment 4tune Software Gmbh failed to pay on the promised date. However, the regulator immediately revoked the company’s B2B license under regulations 9 (1)(d) and 10. The former suspends an entity’s license due to a failure to discharge financial commitments for operations. The latter cancels the license if the suspension does not rectify the situation.
A day before announcing the cancelation of 4tune Software Gmbh’s B2B license, the MGA issued a notice of cancelation to gambling operator Totup System Limited for similar violations. The operator was established in 2016, is based in Malta, and offers online sports betting services in the country under an MGA-issued permit granted in 2020. Almost three years into its legitimate operation in the country, Totup System Limited could see its B2C license canceled if it does not pay the license fee for 2022 and 2023. Licensed gambling operators have to pay a fee of €25,000 annually to retain their permit in Malta. Since Totup System Limited is yet to pay the license fee of the previous year and the current year, the regulator is on the verge of canceling its gambling license after issuing a 20-day notice to the operator more than a week ago. The only way for Totup System Limited to retain its gambling permit is to pay a total of €50,000 before the second week of May this year.
The MGA canceled three permits at the start of this year
Totup System Limited has violated a section of the Malta Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations. However, it is not the first operator to do so this year. The MGA started 2023 with the revocation of three B2C gambling licenses. The gambling permits of BetDino, Genesis Global Limited, and Betago Limited were all canceled for similar infringements, all revolving around the failure to pay a certain fee to the regulatory.
BetDino breached sections 9 (1)(c) and (l) of the gambling regulations, allowing the MGA to act upon their mistake of not paying the undisclosed fee to the gambling authority. Hence, BetDino was removed from the list of authorized gambling providers in Malta. Betago Limited and Genesis Global Limited followed the operator. The MGA detected three regulation breaches by Betago Limited before the regulator decided to revoke its gambling permit. In addition to sections 9 (1)(c) and (l), the operator also violated section 9 (1)(d) by not discharging operational commitments.
All three operators are now without a license in Malta and can no longer offer their services to players in a legal manner. If Totup System Limited fails to pay the hefty €50,000 license fee for two years, it will join BetDino, Genesis Global Limited, and Betago Limited on the list of gambling operators that have seen their respective gambling licenses revoked.
The MGA ended 2022 in similar fashion
The beginning of the new year was marked with the cancelation of three licenses, but for the MGA, the last year also ended similarly. The Maltese regulator was forced to cancel three gaming licenses and issued two fines for non-payment of license fees. The gambling permits of eGaming Lab Limited, M-Hub Gaming C4 Limited, and Morpheus Games were canceled after failing to pay their license fees on time. All three operators were given the usual 20-day window to complete their payments, but none of them complied and ended up losing their respective B2C gambling licenses in Malta.
Additionally, eGaming Lab and Morpheus Games were asked to pay the outstanding sum that they owed to the MGA. The former was given a five-working days ultimatum to pay a little over €50,000, while the latter was asked to pay almost €81,000 with the same deadline that was issued to eGaming Lab. According to the Maltese regulator, M-Hub Gaming was not liable to pay any amount as a pending fee or fines. However, like the other operators who saw their gambling permits revoked, it could no longer offer its gambling services in Malta.
