Russia’s lower legislative body has approved the bill to simplify the customer registration process for Russian-licensed online sports betting sites.

State Duma has approved the third and final reading of federal law 423799-7, which will dramatically simplify the customer registration process. To take effect, the bill now requires the approval of the Federation Council and Vladimir Putin’s signature.

The bill explains that the “complex duplicate identification procedures” currently required to register with a Russian online bookmaker “encourages players to search for ways to overcome government measures … in order to gain access to foreign sites subjected to blocking by [Russian telecom watchdog] Roskomnadzor.”

The new legislation would allow bookmakers to delegate responsibility for customer identification to the TSUPIS, which will have three business days in which to transfer the info to the bookie. However, bookmakers may opt to conduct some due diligence on any new customer, just to be on the safe side.

If a bettor has already registered with Russia’s public services portal, both the bookmaker and the TSUPIS can accept this information as proof of the customer’s identity, so the customer need not make a physical trip anywhere.

There are some downsides to the simplified registration process, including a cap of RUB60k per individual transaction and a monthly cap of RUB200k for all transactions. However, this monthly cap can be overridden if the player verifies his document at TSUPIS partner’s retail location.

Nikolai Oganezov, who represents Betcity told that the new simplified registration could boost the overall domestic online betting customer base by 5% this year, with the growth up to 15% possible by the end of 2020.

Maine legislature has passed the sports betting bill. The Legislative Document 553 was given final approval by each chamber of the legislature and will now pass to Governor Janet Mills to be signed into law.

LD553 opens up the market to all of the state’s bricks and mortar gaming venues, such as commercial racetracks, off-track betting facilities, and commercial and tribal casinos. It will also allow mobile operators to apply for licences without the need for a land-based partner in the state.

Successful applicants will have to pay $20,000 as licence fee, 10% tax on land-based wagering revenue and 16% rate for mobile wagering. The bulk of revenue raised through these taxes will be allocated to the Maine General Fund.

Operators will be permitted to offer odds on all professional, collegiate and amateur sports events. Betting on events involving Maine-based colleges and universities will be prohibited. Only citizens aged 21 and above will be allowed to bet.

BMM Testlabs, the world’s best gaming testing laboratory and technical consultancy, is pleased to announce that the IPLIC (El Instituto de Loteria y Casinos) has authorized BMM Testlabs to certify online games in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

SVP, Business Development Europe and South America, Marzia Turrini, commented, “BMM is proud to be able to service clients and issue online certifications in the jurisdiction. We have enjoyed working with everyone at the institute and we appreciate the support of the board of directors and the legal department in achieving this approval.”

“This new measure provided by the IPLIC will allow different providers of online gaming devices to offer the latest products to the operators of the Province of Buenos Aires. BMM now has the ability to fully service the entire region.” concluded Turrini.

Carlos Gloza, Representative of BMM Testlabs in the Argentina, confirmed that he was very pleased with this new measure and stated, “It’s clear that BMM’s presence is growing fast and we are looking forward to serving all clients in the region.”

About BMM:
BMM is the longest established and most experienced private independent gaming certification lab in the world, providing professional technical and regulatory compliance services to the gaming industry since 1981.

At its core, BMM is a systems-expert company that has provided consulting for and tested many of the largest gaming networks and systems over the last 37 years. In addition, BMM has been successfully testing and certifying the full scope of Class III casino products for over two decades.

BMM authored the first set of independent gaming standards in 1992 and the first set of online gaming standards in 2001.

BMM employs some 400 people in 14 global locations and serves over 460 jurisdictions.

BMM’s world headquarters are in Las Vegas (USA), with offices in Mexico City (Mexico), Lima (Peru), Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Singapore, Macau (SAR, China), Moncton (Canada), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Barcelona (Spain), Vienna (Austria), Bologna (Italy), Midrand (South Africa) and Bucharest (Romania).

For more information on BMM Testlabs, please visit bmm.com