State Lotteries and Gambling will not be able to market the National Lottery on its website
Commercial Court No. 6 in Madrid assesses the demand for the Juego Limpio (Fair Play) Platform represented by Roca Junyent and declares that the State Company for Lotteries and Betting (SELAE) has acted unfairly, abusing the economic dependence of lottery administrations. SELAE is ordered to stop selling National Lottery décimos (minimum tickets) online.
Madrid, 11 April, 2019.– State Lotteries and Betting Sites will stop selling National Lottery tickets through their websites. This was declared in judgement 139/2019, made public on Tuesday by Commercial Court number 6 of Madrid, and which assesses the demand for the Juego Limpio Platform, which comprises 200 lotteries from all over Spain, represented by the Roca Junyent office.
The Commercial Court found that the State Company of Lotteries and Gambling has abused the situation economic dependency of lottery administrations. In this regard, SELAE prohibits the administrations from selling products other than those of the SELAE itself; however, the State Company of Lotteries and Gambling, in contrast, has sold tickets over its website since 2015.
José Carlos Escrig, Chairman of the Board of the Juego Limpio Platform, is pleased with “a ruling that, after years of litigation, condemns acts of unfair competition on the part of SELAE. Some activities have resulted in a decrease in the business of lottery.
Meanwhile, Roberto Vallina, a partner in the EU Competition and Law Department at Roca Junyent, said that “this order highlights the situation of total economic dependence in which lottery administrations find themselves in relation to SELAE and how SELAE has abused that dependence. The court order, which benefits the entire industry and not just this association, is critical to restoring the rights of those affected.”
However, the Juego Limpio Platform considers the judgement insufficient and has already decided to lodge an appeal. Lottery dealers believe that the banning of selling National Lottery tickets should include all establishments that are not traditional administrations. These are the so-called mixed establishments, which are mostly made up of kiosks, bars or state-run tobacco stores, and in general businesses whose main activity is not the sale of lottery tickets but which can be sold if the sales thereof account for less than 50% of their revenue.