Austria's Finance Ministry has submitted its draft gambling bill to the European Commission, beginning the three-month EU review period required before the legislation can be adopted.
The reform centres on the re-regulation of online gambling while maintaining the state's monopoly over lotteries. It introduces Austria's first centralised exclusion register covering both operator-imposed exclusions and self-exclusions across casinos, slot machines and online gambling.
The bill would also introduce deposit limits for online gambling and slot machines, with lower limits for players aged 18 to 26. In addition, it requires gambling addiction risk assessments and, for slot machines, reduces game speed and maximum stakes while introducing a mandatory cooldown period after 90 minutes of continuous play.
For online gambling, the bill proposes an open licensing system. Operators currently offering unlicensed gambling services must cease those activities by 1 January 2027 to remain eligible to apply for a licence.
Those that continue operating beyond that date would face an 18-month licensing ban, which would increase to 24 months from 2030 onwards.
Applicants must also settle any outstanding tax liabilities and unresolved player protection claims before applying. According to the ministry, the measure is intended to address claims from around 20,000 players who say they suffered losses through unlicensed operators.
The bill also introduces payment blocking, blacklisting and network-blocking measures aimed at protecting the regulated market and increasing channelisation to licensed operators. A new digital supervisory system would centrally apply deposit limits across all licensed online operators.
The legislation also revises the framework for casino concessions, fixing the total number at 13 while allowing them to be awarded in packages. According to the ministry, bundling concessions is intended to preserve a balanced distribution of economic value and avoid excessive competitive pressure between casino locations.
Before the bill was published, legal experts warned that excluding former grey-market operators from the licensing process could discourage applications and reduce channelisation into the regulated market
