Rules of Procedure

Trustera is an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution entity, established to resolve disputes between operators and players.

The Trustera Board consists of the Executive Officers and Shareholder representatives of Trustera.

The Trustera Expert Panel consists of legal and technical experts from different fields who are appointed by the Board.

Trustera offers ADR services under various license regimes, in particular dispute resolution under the CGA license framework, Anjouan Gaming Commission requirements, and Tobique Gaming Commission conditions.

Trustera will resolve disputes between the Parties primarily on the contractual rules, applicable license conditions, applicable laws and regulations, and general legal principles.

These procedures shall apply for the out-of-court resolution of domestic and cross-border disputes concerning contractual obligations resulting from gambling contracts between Operators licensed by the Curaçao Gaming Authority or other recognized regulators and Consumers through the intervention of Trustera which proposes an amicable solution.

Disputes are only admissible if the Operator has permanently submitted to the Trustera procedure or is doing so on an ad hoc basis for a claim filed by a Consumer. Trustera can decide not to accept specific claims from certain jurisdictions. Operators licensed by CGA accept Trustera decisions as binding.

Disputes are inadmissible if:

• the dispute does not relate to a gambling transaction or is currently being investigated by a third party
• the Consumer is below the age of 18 or otherwise legally incapacitated and not represented by a parent, guardian or lawyer
• the Consumer did not attempt to contact the Operator concerned in order to discuss his complaint and seek, as a first step, to resolve the matters directly with the Operator
• the dispute raised by the Consumer is frivolous or vexatious
• the dispute is being or has previously been considered by another ADR entity or by a competent court or tribunal
• the dispute refers to a legal matter for which special complaint procedures are foreseen by law (e.g. NODP related disputes)
• the value of the claim falls below a value of USD 50 or above a threshold of USD 500,000
• the Consumer has not submitted the complaint to Trustera within one year from the date upon which the Consumer submitted the complaint to the Operator
• the Consumer has not provided a complete claims form and fails to submit missing information within 14 days after request from Trustera

Trustera can dismiss a dispute during the proceedings should a reason for inadmissibility occur after initial acceptance of the dispute by Trustera.

• Should Trustera consider a dispute inadmissible on any of the grounds above, Trustera will inform the Consumer and the Operator with a reasoned written explanation of the grounds for not considering the dispute within three weeks of receiving the complaint file.
• A decision to hold a complaint inadmissible can be appealed by the Consumer and the Operator within one week after the notice to the Trustera Board. The Board will review the decision within four weeks from receipt of the Appeal.
• Decisions of Trustera can be appealed by the Consumer and the Operator within one week after the notice to the Trustera Board based on claims of substantial legal or factual errors. The decision on the acceptance of such an appeal is under the sole discretion of the Trustera Board.

It is the sole responsibility of the Consumer submitting a complaint to submit a complete claims form including a concise and clear but complete presentation of the circumstances of the dispute. Consumers shall submit all documents which may assist in a better understanding of the case when submitting the dispute. Upon request by Trustera, the Consumer has to provide sufficient documentation to verify his identity. Operators shall submit any relevant documents when replying in the dispute.

The dispute will be decided upon information submitted by the Parties. Trustera will use its reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute through reference to the Operator’s terms and conditions, the license conditions and a process of non-binding mediation between the Consumer and Operator.

Trustera does not investigate the facts of the dispute and is under no obligation to request additional documents or evidence unless essential information is missing to decide the case. Information provided by the Consumer after the opening of the case may not be considered and follow up emails will not be responded to as a matter of policy to the interest of resourceful case management.

Should the Consumer or Operator not respond to an information request from Trustera within 14 days, Trustera may decide based on the decision presented by that time.

Should the Operator fail to lodge a response within 14 days after receiving the claim by e-mail, a decision can be taken by default at Trustera’s sole discretion.

Important: Once a dispute has been referred to Trustera, the Consumer and the Operator should refrain from contacting each other and discussing the dispute. All communication should be channelled through Trustera.

All correspondence between Trustera and the Parties will be by e-mail and will be accessible for the opposing party upon request. Trustera will not enter into any verbal communication with any Party regarding ongoing proceedings.

Correspondence with Trustera shall be in English, or Maltese.
Standard disputes will be handled by a single Arbitrator. Disputes above USD 100,000 will be reviewed and decided by the Arbitrator and one or two experts.

Should the Arbitrator be conflicted the dispute will be referred to an expert. The Arbitrator and any expert are obliged to inform the Trustera board whether he or she has any financial or personal interest in the outcome of the dispute or whether there exists any fact or circumstance or affiliation reasonably likely to create a presumption of bias. Upon receiving any such information Trustera may replace the person.

The Parties are not obliged to retain a lawyer or a legal advisor, but they may seek independent advice or be represented or assisted by a third party at any stage of the procedure.

Should a party opt for representation by a legal advisor, the respective mandate is to be evidenced to Trustera before a formal case can be opened.

Minors below the age of 18 must be represented by a parent, guardian or lawyer at any stage of the procedure.

The proceedings shall terminate when the Parties reach a settlement, or the Consumer declares that he has no interest in continuing the process and withdraws the claim.

Trustera will terminate the proceedings if it becomes known that a Party has breached confidentiality of the dispute settlement proceedings, especially if the dispute is reported to the media by one of the Parties.

Trustera will also terminate the proceedings if the Operator withdraws from Trustera.

Trustera will make every effort to conclude the dispute resolution process within ninety days of receiving the dispute and all other relevant information to enable the dispute to be processed.

The Decision of Trustera will be delivered in print by postal service upon request by one of the Parties.

In cases where the Operator has proposed non-binding proceedings under Section 2 of these Rules of Procedure, the Parties shall inform Trustera whether they accept the proposed solution within two weeks after delivery of the solution. Should one or both Parties fail to reply, this shall be interpreted as acceptance of the decision.

The proposed solution may be different from an outcome determined by a competent court or tribunal applying legal rules.

Participation in the Trustera procedure shall not preclude the possibility of seeking redress through court proceedings.

Consumers and Operators are required to keep the details of disputes and resulting decisions confidential. All information, records, reports or other documents received by Trustera will be confidential. Trustera will not be compelled to divulge such records or to testify or give evidence in regard to the mediation in any adversary proceeding or judicial forum. The Parties will maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings and will not rely upon or introduce as evidence in any arbitral, judicial or other proceeding:

• views expressed or suggestions or offers made by another party or the mediator in the course of the mediation proceedings
• admissions made by another party in the course of the mediation proceedings relating to the merits of the dispute
• the final decision of Trustera may be used in judicial proceedings

By submitting a dispute the Consumer consents to the transfer of any data from the Operator to Trustera which is relevant to the dispute. Upon request, Trustera will provide the Consumer and Operator with the evidence, documents and facts put forward by the other Party, including any statements made, or opinions given, by an expert. Information relating to fraud protection and AML measures adopted by the Operator will not be disclosed. Trustera might be prevented from disclosing submissions to the other Party if any data referring to third parties is contained therein.

Trustera will keep all data obtained during proceedings confidential and will handle them in strict compliance with all relevant data protection regulation.

By submitting to Trustera proceedings the Parties consent to the publication of the anonymized decision. Any publication will not disclose the Operator or Consumer details.

Trustera accepts no liability for any loss, damage, loss of opportunity or inconvenience arising from any dispute between a Consumer and an approved license holder, the failure of a party to comply with the process and/or any agreement reached between the parties, the process itself, or the conduct of Trustera in relation to the dispute.

Dispute settlement at Trustera is free of charge for Consumers. For Operators the fee agreement applies.

In case of conflict between different language versions of these Rules of Procedure, the English language version shall prevail.