Online gamblers have been able to play their favorite casino games from the comfort of their own home for years in Cyprus, but that was set to come to an end in 2011. On Tuesday, those gamblers received a reprieve as the island has delayed the proposed ban until at least the middle of March.

Lawmakers discussing a draft bill to regulate online betting were left flummoxed yesterday after hearing that the administration, understood to want to ban gambling, might not want an outright prohibition after all – maybe.

DISY MP Ionas Nicolaou, who chairs the House Legal Affairs Committee, spoke of a “cock-up” in government policy.

As the House of Representatives continues to prepare the legal framework for combating illegal online gambling by banning online gambling altogether, more establishment voices are being raised in favour of allowing casinos to operate legally on the island.

So far, the debate seems to have polarised on ideological lines, with President Demetris Christofias and government party AKEL insisting on an outright ban as a way of combating a growing social problem.

The online gambling legislation's in Cyprus and Denmark, which were ironically moving in different directions, have been temporarily slowed down. In Cyprus online gambling has been allowed under the Betting Law since 2007, which was amended to make it compliant with European Union (EU) regulations. However the Cyprus government lawmakers want to amend the law again and delete online gambling from the permissible betting services.

The Parliament is reaching the end of discussions on a draft proposal to put restrictions on online gambling, with one suggestion being to impose filters by telecommunications companies to prevent users from playing on online casinos.

The draft will be submitted to the European Commission for approval, before parliament votes on it.

According to the Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee, DISY’s Ionas Nicolaou, the draft was prepared taking into consideration laws from other states, such as France and Portugal.

According to a study by the European Parliament, seven of the EU27 countries ban online gambling through legislation. Such legislation also exists in Cyprus. Of the remaining 20 countries, only 13 allow it, meaning that over 50% of EU Countries care to protect their citizens and their families.

Yet in Cyprus, the idea was officially promoted that once an online gambling company registers in an EU country, we cannot prohibit it from operating in Cyprus. If this were the ruling policy, by now the European Commission should have taken Germany and other prohibiting countries to the European Court of Justice. But the policy which is now followed by the EC appears to be leaving the decision to ban or not to ban at the discretion of the member countries.