Italy’s Court of Cassation has annulled a €20,000 ($21,700) fine imposed by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) on the owner of Il Belvedere Bar Ristorante Pizzeria in Lanciano, in Italy’s Abruzzo region.
The case centred on whether a public venue could be sanctioned for making available an internet-connected computer that could also be used to access online gaming sites.
The sanction followed a 2019 inspection at the venue. Inspectors found a computer connected to the internet, a printer for betting receipts, a monitor showing a link to an online betting site and several receipts linked to wagers placed through an authorised dealer.
The Court of Appeal of L’Aquila had previously held that these elements showed the venue had created a computer station for remote gambling, bringing it within Article 7, paragraph 3-quater, of Legislative Decree No. 158 of 2012, known as the Balduzzi Decree.
The Court of Cassation overturned that position after Italy’s Constitutional Court ruled in judgment 104/2025 that the provision was unconstitutional.
That ruling found the law too broad because it treated different types of conduct in the same way, from organised gambling collection to the simple availability of internet access.
The Constitutional Court also found the sanctioning framework disproportionate, as the rule applied generally to equipment capable of connecting to online gaming sites rather than distinguishing between illegal betting activity and ordinary customer internet use.
The Cassation judges said it was necessary to “acknowledge the expiry of the sanctioning provision with ex tunc effect,” meaning the provision could no longer support the penalty. The appeal was upheld, the lower ruling reversed and the administrative fine cancelled.
The judgment lands during a wider restructuring of Italy’s gambling framework. ADM has been tightening oversight of both retail and online gambling, while Italy’s new online licensing regime is reducing market fragmentation and placing greater emphasis on concession controls, player protection and illegal gambling enforcement.
The ruling also comes shortly after Abruzzo approved a new gambling harm plan developed with Italy’s National Research Council, focused on youth gambling surveys, treatment access and official training.
The Constitutional Court ruling does not remove ADM’s powers against illegal gambling collection. It narrows the use of a blanket device ban in public venues
