Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

EU Court Rules Hungary's State Monopoly Over Mobile Payments Is Illegal (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the not-on-my-watch dept.

Hungarian state's monopoly over national mobile payment services has been ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice. "The ruling would require the end of exclusive control over Hungarian mobile payments exercised since July 2014 by state-owned firm Nemzeti Mobilfizetesi Zrt," reports Reuters. "This exclusive operation 'is contrary to EU law,' the bloc's top court said in a statement."

"Even if the services provided under that system constitute services of general economic interest, their supply cannot be reserved to a state monopoly," the court added.

3 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Next up: Corporations printing their own cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Corporations are certainly allowed to print their own cash. They just can't print currency that they do not legitimately own, or are not allowed to do under the terms regulating those currencies. They can print as much Corp-dolars, AmazonPoints, Casino chips, or Bitcoins as they please.

  2. Re:Really? by szabo.m.peter · · Score: 5, Informative

    No. Hungary is allowed to run a mobile payment service, but Hungary is not allowed to forbid private companies from doing the same. It is not allowed to require by law that all mobile payments go through the state operated mobile payment processor.

  3. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    "So the EU is now dictating which services it's member governments are allowed to run" No, just that they don't own the MONOPOLY on the entirety of the monetization of that. READ CAREFULLY LIBERTARIAN NUTJOBS!