The e-Commerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance group (eCOGRA), an independent agency that oversees the online casino industry, recently announced that they have revised their Generally Accepted Practices (eGAPs) for more than 150 online gaming sites that they certify. The updates came as a result of new regulations from the European Union.

 

 

The regulations cover 134 practices in nine major categories, including:

 

 

The impetus behind the updated practices came from the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Union regulatory body that coordinates trade rules among the 31 EU member nations. The CEN guidelines are described in an eCOGRA press release as “voluntary technical specifications” to insure uniformity among member nations ranging from Spain to Germany to Greece.

 

 

Andrew Beveridge, CEO of eCOGRA, remarked that the updates were drawn up primarily to ensure that eCOGRA's rules cover much of the CEN Responsible Remote Gambling Measures, the EU rules that govern online gaming. Beveridge also said that the eGAPs are also a wide-ranging and important guide that will fulfill the proper needs of most gaming regulatory agencies.

 

 

"By aligning our eGAPs with these recommendations,” Beveridge said, “we not only provide a relevant and current roadmap to our accredited sites, but offer an expert framework useful to other operators committed to meeting requirements that are largely common to most regulatory initiatives."