Spiele mit Gewinnmöglichkeit, Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung beim Bundeskriminalamt beantragen

• § 33d Gewerbeordnung – andere Spiele mit Gewinnmöglichkeit
• § 33e Gewerbeordnung – Bauartzulassung und Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung
• § 60a Gewerbeordnung – Veranstaltung von Spielen
• Verordnung über Spielgeräte und andere Spiele mit Gewinnmöglichkeit (SpielV)
• Verordnung zur Erteilung von Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigungen (UnbBeschErtV)

If you wish to organise games with the possibility of winning on a commercial basis in a standing business, you need a clearance certificate from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). You must apply for this.

The BKA issues the clearance certificate to the following persons:

• the manufacturer of a game if it is a mass-produced game device.
  He or she will then receive a copy of the clearance certificate for each replica of the game device.
• in all other cases: the organiser of the game

The clearance certificate shall contain the following information:

• Designation of the game
• The company name and registered office of the manufacturer or the name, date of birth, place of birth and place of residence of the game's organiser
• Description of the game and the course of the game, if applicable with illustrations and general drawings
• Rules of the game and prize schedule
• List of places where you are permitted to organise the game
• Period of validity of the clearance certificate
• any ancillary provisions

Note: Clearance certificates can also be issued for a limited period or subject to conditions.

• Game description
• Rules of the game
• if required by the type of game: calculation of payout and hit expectation
• other documents may be required, for example:
  • a ready-to-use device, if it is a gaming device
  • Samples of the gaming equipment or individual parts

• The game to be tested is a game of skill.
• In the case of mass-produced replicas of the game equipment, these must correspond to the sample submitted for testing and declared unobjectionable by the BKA.

Note: Games of skill are games in which the person playing determines the outcome of the game with a high degree of probability according to the game equipment and rules. To do so, he or she uses his or her skill or knowledge.

The clearance certificate is refused if

• there is a danger that the person playing will suffer unreasonably high losses in a short period of time, or
• the game can be organised as illicit gambling within the meaning of Section 284 of the Criminal Code (StGB) by changing the conditions of the game or by changing the gaming equipment by simple means.
  This is the case if
  • the game is a card, dice or ball game derived from a game of chance within the meaning of § 284 StGB, or
  • the game cannot be operated economically according to the conditions submitted for examination.

• Fees according to processing time and graduated hourly rates:
  EUR 47.00 to EUR 67.00, maximum EUR 2,500
• Fee for issuing the clearance certificate: maximum EUR 250.00
• in the case of exceptional expenditure for the examination: increased fee, maximum double the amount
• Reimbursement of expenses (e.g. expenses for additional copies, transcripts and extracts)
• Transcription of a clearance certificate (change of venue): EUR 40.00
• per copy of a clearance certificate: EUR 25.00

Attention! If you withdraw your application after the start and before the end of the examination, you will have to pay fees for the examination of the application.

Submit a written application for a clearance certificate to the competent office. Your application must be signed by hand.

The BKA decides on the application together with

• the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt and
• a committee of four criminal investigators from the Länder who are experienced in the field of gambling.

The BKA may withdraw or revoke the clearance certificate if

• reasons subsequently become known that would have precluded its issue,
• You alter the characteristics of approved gaming facilities, or
• You organise a game that has been declared harmless under unauthorised conditions.