Operator Licensing Procedure in Poland

Setting up an online casino Poland requires obtaining a license. It is granted by the Ministry of Finance. It may only be obtained by enterprises operating as a limited liability company or a joint-stock company.

Moreover, they must have their seat in the territory of the Republic of Poland. The share capital of such a company cannot be lower than PLN 4 million. There can be no preferential shares, and all shares must be registered.

For Shareholders and Company Authorities

Shares in enterprises operating a casino may be acquired only by legal persons or companies without legal personality and natural persons whose registered office or place of residence is in the territory of a European Union member state.

The other option would be from a member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – a party to the agreement on the European Economic Area.

There Are Limits

As a general rule, the Gambling Act has introduced limits on the ability to operate a casino. According to the act, one casino may be located in towns with a population of up to 250,000.

However, there cannot be more than one casino in a province for every additional population of 650,000.

Companies that can apply for a license are those that can document the legality of capital sources, lack of arrears in the payment of taxes constituting the state budget revenue and customs duties, and lack of arrears in the payment of social security and health insurance contributions.

If more than one company applies for a single concession, the Minister of Finance is obliged to hold a tender, ensuring as open and objective as possible the nature of its conduct and assessment of applications.

Entry to gaming centers and betting shops are allowed to persons over 18 years of age. The organization of cylindrical games, card games, dice games and slot machine games are allowed only in gaming casinos.

Rules of the Games

The entity applying for a license must submit draft gaming regulations to the Ministry of Finance for approval before submitting the application.

Approval of the project occurs within six months of application. It should specify the entity conducting the games, the detailed terms and conditions of the games, the rights and obligations of game participants, the procedure and deadlines for handling complaints and the amount of capital to be paid immediately.

Deadline Decision

The Ministry of Finance considers the application within six months. The decision to grant a concession must include a deadline for the commencement of business activities, which may be extended for up to six months at a time.

The license is granted for six years. Information on the expiry of a casino’s concession is published by the Ministry of Finance on its website at least nine months in advance. An application for this license must be submitted within three months from the date of publication of the information about the expiration date.

It is also crucial that any change in the management of a gambling company must be approved by the Ministry of Finance.

Then, after it has been entered in the National Court Register within seven days, the information about it must be submitted to the licensing authority, which within 14 days makes the appropriate changes to the license.

At the same time, the new person or shareholder must meet the statutory requirements (as mentioned above).