Germany’s Self-Exclusion Site Was Shut Down for 24 Hours

Anonymous sources who spoke to NEXT.io announced that people’s access to Germany’s centralized self-exclusion platform for online gamblers called OASIS has been restricted for approximately 24 hours in the past week. 

A government spokesperson confirmed the information according to which OASIS was shut down on February 13, starting at 21:00 CET. 

The incident added even more fuel to the fire in the context of the current criticism from trade bodies that the country’s regulated market has been facing over the matter of the improper regulations that are preventing consumers from reaching legal gambling offerings. 

The Outage Allegedly Generated Customer Complaints 

The problem that led to the outage was fixed on the morning of February 14. However, the incident has presumably caused a series of customers to file complaints throughout the country.

NEXT.io asked the Darmstadt Regional Council to confirm the news regarding the 24-hour shutdown. The council is responsible for supervising the OASIS platform and accepting German online sports betting license applications. 

According to a government spokesperson, the OASIS locking system “was temporarily unavailable due to technical problems.” The same spokesperson announced that the system has been running again since the morning of February 14. 

The OASIS Dilemma

Ever since its launch in August 2021 as a component of the country’s bundle of gambling reforms that helped the regulated market rise, the self-exclusion platform has gathered a growing number of registered players.  

In June 2023, the platform counted 196,000 members.

The German Sports Betting Association, which is a 2014-founded organization of sports betting providers aimed at helping develop regulations while safeguarding its integrity and acting as a liaison between the media and public, has argued with SPD politician and federal drug commissioner Burkhard Blienert over the actual reason behind this rise in the number of registered OASIS members. 

One explanation could be the disturbing problem-gambling boost in the country. Consumers being ushered into the legal gambling market could be a second reason.

Players who sign up and join the system are prevented from getting access to licensed gaming websites.

Last November, a study commissioned by the German Online Casino Association and the German Sports Betting Association discovered that 50% of Germany’s online gambling action takes place via unlicensed gaming websites.

This prompted stakeholders in the industry to ask for urgent changes that would tackle some of the regulatory deficiencies that have led to the results of the study.