On Tuesday, Austria’s Ministry of Finance officially sent a sweeping draft of its gambling regulations to the European Commission, marking the start of a mandatory three-month waiting period before formal enactment of the legislation.
This submission kicks off a review phase in which the Commission may express concerns about state aid or single market regulations, while Austria’s parliamentary processes can continue unhindered.
The draft law signifies a substantial alteration in Austria’s gambling framework, focusing on stronger regulations for online gambling, improved player protections, and a revised licensing and oversight structure.
One major aspect of the draft is the introduction of a national exclusion register, which will include both self-exclusions and bans imposed by operators across various gaming formats, including casinos and online platforms. This initiative aims to prevent those excluded from using different products or operators to bypass restrictions.
Additionally, the draft mandates deposit limits for online gambling and slot machine players, with stricter limits for individuals aged 18 to 26, addressing concerns about vulnerable young gamblers. Other provisions include reducing maximum stakes and slowing the pace of slot machine games, as well as instituting a mandatory cooling-off break after 90 minutes of continuous play to mitigate the risk of excessive gambling.
Operators will be legally required to assess the potential for addiction in their offerings, aiding broader research and policymaking around gambling harm reduction.
To facilitate market competition, the government aims to implement open licensing for online gambling operators accompanied by transitional rules. Illegal operators must cease activities by January 1, 2027, to have an immediate shot at obtaining a license. Non-compliance will result in an enforced waiting period—18 months, increasing to 24 months from 2030. Applicants will also be required to settle outstanding tax debts and unpaid claims from around 20,000 players affected by historical enforcement lapses.
The Austrian Betting and Gaming Association (OVWG) has expressed doubts about the transitional period effectively steering players to licensed operators like Win2Day, predicting instead that the black market could thrive.
The proposed reform also includes a digital supervisory platform with an operator-independent deposit limit, alongside enforcement measures such as payment blocking, blacklisting, and network blocking, which are designed to curb illegal operators and funnel players toward the licensed market.
The new law proposes a cap of 13 casino licenses, which may be allocated in bundles. Licensing authorities will aim to prevent an oversaturation of casinos and promote a balanced geographic distribution to enhance player protection.
Niklas Sattler, a former employee at Casinos Austria, argued that granting individual concessions would be a fairer method for market entry. Currently, Casinos Austria, which holds a monopoly on casinos, advocates for retaining the licensing package approach. Sattler anticipates that instead of two packages of six licenses, one package of six and another of seven could be tendered later. This would allow larger entities like Merkur to enter the market while closing doors on smaller competitors.
Sattler expressed his concerns, stating, “We believe it’s quite unfair.”
Political analyst Felix Geyer expressed skepticism about the timeline for issuing licenses, noting, “Given how slow political processes in Austria can be, I’m sceptical about whether they will be able to hand out licenses within 12 months, especially since I don’t expect them to begin before the law actually comes into force.”
If the process unfolds as planned, the market is anticipated to open in October 2027.
