The Regional Council of Darmstadt has vowed to continue strengthening the parameters of the OASIS gambling self-exclusion scheme.
The Council is charged with the management of OASIS (Online Abfrage Spielerstatus), operated as the central self-exclusion system of Germany’s Fourth Interstate Gambling Regime (GluNeuRStV).
Publishing its 2025 update, Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt detailed that more than 5.2 billion queries were processed through OASIS during the year.
Darmstadt defines “queries” as individual checks made by GluNeuRStV-licensed operators against the central OASIS database of self-excluded players. As noted by the authority, “the figure underlines the significance and scale of the OASIS system in safeguarding German gambling’s compliance infrastructure.”
GluNeuRStV licensing requirements mandate that each licensed operator — land-based and online — must verify a customer’s status with the OASIS database before permitting participation.
The authority confirmed that the nationwide exclusion register now contains approximately 367,000 active player bans. The database integrates data from around 9,000 operators across some 41,000 gambling locations, covering casinos, arcades, betting shops and online platforms permitted under federal law.
RP Darmstadt further reported that around 60,000 exclusion requests were formally processed during 2025, although the total number of submissions was significantly higher due to incomplete applications.
Officials attributed renewed growth in applications and inquiries to the 2024 transition to a fully digital, paperless procedure for managing exclusion and reinstatement requests, coordinated with the federal regulator, the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL).
Under Germany’s federal framework, individuals suffering from gambling addiction may apply for self-exclusion directly, while third parties and operators may also initiate exclusion proceedings.
The Regional Council stated that it will continue to refine technical monitoring standards and procedural safeguards to ensure that OASIS remains “a robust instrument for player protection and addiction prevention”.
GluNeuRStV is a slow moving train
Darmstadt is among the administrative authorities that will participate in the 2026 review of the GluNeuRStV regime, marking five years since the launch of Germany’s re-regulated federal market on 1 July 2021.
The proceedings are viewed as an opportunity for the GGL and the Bundesländer (state governments) to address structural liabilities of the GluNeuRStV framework, with channelisation widely reported to be currently below 50%.
The GGL has acknowledged ongoing concerns relating to burdensome player onboarding requirements. The practical limits imposed by the €1,000 cross-operator monthly deposit cap and the €1 online slot stake limit has also attracted criticism.
However, the authority has stated that it will not make any commitments until it receives the findings of forthcoming Breman research studies on German gambling participation and exposures.
Stakeholders have been notified that the review and its recommendations will focus on interstate coordination, enforcement capacity and administrative efficiencies.
Licensed operators have been invited to submit recommendations, which are expected to form the foundation of the next major revision of the treaty potentially evolving into what stakeholders are already referring to as “GlüStV 2029”…
These developments all point to Germany maintaining its status as a slow moving regime.