The Kyiv District Administrative Court has ruled in favor of gambling operator LLC “SLOTS U.A.” in its legal dispute with Ukraine’s State Agency PlayCity, overturning a UAH 400,000 fine imposed on the company over an alleged failure to provide requested information within the required timeframe.
The case began after a player filed a complaint. In November 2025, PlayCity sent the operator a request asking for information regarding the player’s account registration, participation in bonus programs, payout of winnings, and communication with customer support.
On November 28, within the established deadline, Slots U.A. submitted the requested materials to the regulator, including 10 PDF files containing copies of the correspondence with the player. However, due to a technical error, the accompanying letter with structured answers to each point of the request was not attached to the email.
After identifying the issue, the company sent the missing document on December 3. Despite this, PlayCity considered the information to have been provided late and issued a UAH 400,000 penalty, equal to 50 minimum monthly salaries.
Slots U.A. challenged the decision in court.
The court concluded that the operator had provided the main body of the requested information on time — the documents were received by the regulator on November 28. The absence of a separate accompanying letter could not be considered a failure to provide information.
The court also found that PlayCity did not properly assess the materials submitted within the deadline, failed to take into account the company’s explanation regarding the technical error, and imposed the maximum penalty without sufficient justification.
According to the court’s decision, regulators must evaluate the substance of the information provided rather than penalize businesses for formal or technical issues related to document formatting when the required materials have been submitted on time.
On July 20, 2026, the Kyiv District Administrative Court fully upheld the claim filed by LLC “SLOTS U.A.”: the fine imposed by PlayCity was canceled, and the regulator was ordered to reimburse the operator UAH 6,000 in court fees.
