A citizen-led initiative in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) that resulted in an app allowing locals to report betting shops near schools has generated significant public and local media attention.
It should be noted that the FBiH is one of the two main entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska.
It is alleged that almost 11,000 reports suspecting breaches of legal distance requirements between betting shops and educational venues had been submitted through the application form.
The application automatically processes and sends complaints. When users enter basic information such as their name and email address, the system displays a list of betting shops along with their distances from nearby schools or places of worship, as well as relevant legal provisions.
When a citizen flags the betting shop within the app, the complaint is automatically sent to the FBiH Tax Administration. It was developed by Selmir Mujagić, a native of Bosnia, who currently lives in Austria. He was contacted by the Bosnian media for comment.
Mujagić said that the project aims to simplify the reporting process, enabling individuals without legal expertise to submit complaints easily.
He stated: "I realised the problem wasn't the law itself. The problem was the barrier between the law and its enforcement – time, uncertainty and the fact that people often don't know where to start. I decided to remove that barrier.
"Someone who has never filed a complaint before, who doesn't understand jurisdiction or how exactly 100 metres is measured, should still be able to quickly submit a legally correct report to the relevant inspection authority."
This is not the only issue betting shop operators are facing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Around 30 municipalities and cities across the country have introduced higher municipal fees averaging BAM 20,000 ($11,735) per betting shop per year. A further 20 municipalities have proposed similar measures.
The town of Bihać has become a reference case after winning multiple court battles, collecting nearly BAM 1m in fees and seeing 12 betting shops leave the city.
Operators now face fines after registration deadlines expired in municipalities enforcing the system, with penalties of up to BAM 10,000 per company plus additional fines for responsible persons.
According to Mozzart Bet, the land-based betting sector in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has shrunk, with the number of betting shops falling from 1,930 to 1,602 over the past two years
