Activity outside of regulatory boundaries punished
It appears that no unauthorized gambling will go unpunished in Bulgaria, judging by the Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling which raised charges against mobile operator Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile (Globul) over a question and answer game played via text messaging over a four month period in 2009 and won the case.
Namely, it has been specified in the reports on the case that subscribers of three mobile operators Mtel, Globul and Vivacom who played “The Big Cash Game” sent in excess of 14.6 million short text messages each costing BGN 1.2 excl VAT which totaled BGN 17.5 million.
Based on a ruling by the Sofia City Administrative Court, a fine should be paid by Globul in the amount of BGN 50 000 (GBP 21 282) for failing to obtain a permit and illegally running the game and BGN 1.3 million (GBP 553 362) for corporate tax evasion.
Furthermore, the company faces a fee of BGN 15 000 for a claim review and BGN 20 000 for the issue of a license.
Apparently, Globul stated that it plans to appeal the decision in a higher court.
