Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has introduced a revenue-linked system for calculating the fees paid by bingo operators whose expired concessions remain under temporary extension.
The determination replaces uniform monthly charges with 81 bands ranging from €3,250 ($3,750) for concessions generating up to €1.2m in annual bingo card sales to €9,000 for those exceeding €17m.
Charges increase by €70 for each €200,000 revenue band between those thresholds.
Operators must pay the full monthly amount when a concession remains active for more than 15 days during a month, while shorter periods attract a 50% charge.
ADM will use official data from the year preceding each payment obligation. The framework covers the temporary operation of concessions between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2026, rather than applying only to the final year of the current extension.
Further determinations will establish whether individual concessionaires owe additional amounts or qualify for repayments after taking account of fees already paid.
The revision follows litigation over Italy’s repeated extension of bingo concessions while a replacement tender remained outstanding. Legislation had progressively raised the monthly fee from €2,800 in 2013 to €7,500 from 2018, before introducing four annual instalments of €54,000 for each concession in both 2025 and 2026.
In March 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union found that the extension arrangements could amount to substantial changes to existing concessions and ruled that financial conditions could not be imposed without considering the economic position of individual operators.
Italy’s Council of State subsequently directed ADM to link the payment calculation to revenue rather than rely on an abstract flat charge.
The Council of State clarified in June 2026 that revenue should mean the total value of bingo cards sold. It also permitted ADM to establish minimum and maximum charges, provided the amounts remained connected to each concession’s turnover.
The decision comes as Italy works towards a wider restructuring of land-based gambling concessions. Proposals under discussion have included approximately 210 bingo hall licences with a base tender price of €350,000, compared with around 180 operating halls.
Existing bingo concessions are scheduled to expire on 31 December 2026.
In June, ADM seized seven unauthorised amusement machines during inspections in Padua and imposed €22,000 in penalties across the venue operator and machine owner. The action formed part of the regulator’s continuing oversight of Italy’s retail gaming network.
The €3,250 minimum is based on spreading the proposed €350,000 tender price for a nine-year bingo concession across its full term
