The Norwegian Gaming Foundation-Authority

Like many countries in Europe, Norwegians love to gamble; however, its citizens are subject to some of the strictest online licensing regulations in Europe, if not the world. This is demonstrated by the fact there are no land-based casinos in the country.

Such is the stringency of online gambling regulations that Norwegian banks and payment providers are not officially allowed to process payments for gambling online.

Only two companies operate under the license of the Norwegian Gaming Foundation-Authority; these are Norsk Rikstoto and Norsk Tipping. That means they have exclusive rights to any online gambling activities within the country, including online casinos. Norsk Rikstoto is concerned mainly with horse racing. At the same time, Norsk Tipping deals with the lottery, scratch card games, poker, sports betting, and online casino games.

Norwegians are able to use online casinos operated in overseas countries. This is something that has become increasingly popular, with reports showing that as much as 50% of the money generated by Norwegians playing online casinos goes to operators in foreign countries.

There are changes afoot with the Government taking swift action as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, which caused an increase in online gambling, including at online casinos, of in excess of 60%. As a result, the new gambling act was adopted in late 2021.

The restrictions around licenses issued by the Norwegian Gaming Foundation-Authority are some of the tightest in the industry.

The authority keeps a strict rein on online casinos, and currently, only organizations that actively promote humanitarian or socially beneficial purposes are eligible for a license. Hence at present, only the state-run Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are licensed to provide any online gambling activities within the country.

Online casinos from foreign countries are still available for Norwegians to play, and those regulated by respected authorities such as companies based in Malta and the Channel Islands are popular choices.

It should also be noted that Norway is not part of the European Union and therefore is not bound by any of the legislation that affects online casinos based in the rest of Europe.

As for the future, changes introduced by the new gambling act introduced in 2021 may have an impact on gaming, and there was pressure from within the country for a more liberal approach by the Norwegian Government towards online casinos and the gambling industry in general.

What effect this has on the Norwegian Gaming Foundation-Authority and whether it expands the licensing of online casinos beyond its state-run operations remains to be seen.