ZfWG: Kein Ersatz von Spielverlusten bei Online-Glücksspielen

Published by Claus Hambach LL.M. and Maximilian Kienzerle in ZfWG 1/20 p. 74 f.

Summary

Online-gambling-players can neither reclaim their losses from credit card banks nor from payment service providers. This was recently decided not only by numerous local and regional courts, but even by the Higher Regional Court of Munich. With the verdict of the Wuppertal Regional Court of 30 October 2019, player-claims against a well-known ewallet company were also rejected, with the result that various regional courts have now ruled on all relevant payment methods for online games of chance. They all draw the same conclusion: it is not the obligation of banks and payment service providers to check the legality of payments. It is the player himself who decides on his own actions. At the same time, this article comments on Rock’s article in ZfWG 05/2019, who appears to position himself rather morally than legally against the banks. If one were to follow his argumentation, this would practically lead to “playing without risk”, which the legislator did not intend.

Please find the complete article in German here.

For further information please check www.zfwg.de