Belgium's EPIS blocks 715,373 gambling access attempts in 2025

Belgium's Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS) blocked 715,373 attempts to access gambling by people on the national exclusion list in 2025, according to the Belgian Gaming Commission's (CJH) annual report for 2025, as cited by the Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO) in a 19 October 2026 article. Of the blocked attempts, 690,074 were at licensed online gambling platforms and 25,299 at land-based venues. The CJH said the figures refer to rejected access attempts rather than to the number of people involved, because one player may have made several attempts.

The CJH processed 16,358 self-exclusion requests in 2025, compared with 12,509 in 2024. At the end of 2025, 66,998 people were excluded from gambling at their own request. In 2025, 75.98% of voluntary self-exclusion requests were submitted through the itsme digital identification system, which has allowed online applications since the end of 2021.

Since July 2023, Belgian players have been able to name a trusted person, such as a family member, partner or friend, when applying for self-exclusion. That person is informed of the exclusion and of any revocation. In 2025, 6,394 self-exclusion requests involved a trusted person, against 2,093 the previous year, with the share rising from about 17% to 39% of all requests.

BAGO said the figures show that protection tools must be matched by their effective enforcement, and that it is not enough to let users self-exclude: operators must respect the decision. The association said EPIS is not only a register of excluded persons but an operational tool through which licensed operators can apply access bans. It said an effective player-protection policy should rest on simple self-exclusion procedures, strict checks by licensed operators and verification of compliance with the rules, alongside cooperation with support services and periodic evaluation of existing measures.

BAGO also linked player protection to action against illegal gambling, saying that channelling demand towards licensed operators must remain a fundamental principle of gambling policy, because tools such as EPIS can be applied only within a regulated system subject to checks. The association said strengthening protection in the licensed offer and combating unauthorised operators are closely connected objectives. BAGO brings together five Belgian companies recognised by the CJH as licensed operators and says it represents a majority share of the national gambling market, both online and land-based, including casinos, gaming halls, betting agencies and their digital platforms.