Austria is edging closer to resolving its gambling reform after years of political deadlock, with a draft law set to be introduced in the coming weeks that could reshape the country’s online gambling landscape.

The proposed legislation comes as licences for lotteries, online gambling and six casinos are due to expire in 2027, and could reportedly see a competitive licensing system introduced.

Previous reform attempts stalled over disagreements on player protection measures between coalition partners in the Austrian government.

Whether the number of licences will be limited or unlimited remains part of ongoing political discussions, but either way the new framework could mark the launching of Europe’s latest competitive regulated market.

After budget and finance spokespeople review the draft and the Council of Ministers reaches agreement, Brussels will be notified, with the law possibly taking effect from summer 2026.

According to the Austria Press Agency, the main focus of negotiations centres on online gambling, where Austrian Lotteries currently holds the sole licence for lotteries and online games.

Austrian grey market highlighted as issue

However, numerous international operators continue to attract Austrian customers in the country’s grey market, with some holding EU licences from jurisdictions such as Malta or Gibraltar paying taxes, while others operate without licences and pay nothing.

In recent years the grey market has become the centre of a series of legal cases, where players have won cases awarding them repayment of all their historic losses, since operators had acted outside the legal regime.

Jan Krainer, budget spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party, and Andreas Hanger, his counterpart at the Austrian People’s Party, both expressed support for regulation and player protection to the press agency.

Player protection measures under discussion include a central database modelled on Germany’s system, which would prevent individuals who self-exclude or display problematic gambling behaviour from accessing all gambling services.

However, such a system would not apply to international providers without licences.

Technical solutions being explored include IP blocking of unlicensed websites and payment blocking, which would blacklist account numbers of unlicensed operators to prevent transfers from Austrian bank accounts.

Officials expect payment blocking to prove more effective, though both the technical implementation and legal framework require further development, including coordination with the banking association.

Source

#Austria #GamblingReform #OnlineGambling #Regulation #EUCompliance