Austria Begins Process to End Online Gambling Monopoly

^{Parliament Building, Vienna, Austria / © Shutterstock}

The Austrian government has submitted draft gambling legislation to the European Commission that would end the country’s online gambling monopoly and introduce a licensing system for multiple operators. The Austrian Ministry of Finance announced the move.

The draft was entered into the European Union’s technical regulations notification system, triggering a three-month standstill period. During this time, the European Commission and other EU member states may review the proposal and submit comments. Austria cannot formally adopt the law until the procedure is complete.

At present, the right to offer most forms of gambling in Austria is formally reserved for the state, which grants it to a limited number of concessionaires.

Österreichische Lotterien* is the only company holding a federal licence for online gambling.

It operates the win2day platform and may continue working under its current authorisation until September 30, 2027.

The reform would allow licences to be issued to several operators, provided they meet the established requirements. Companies currently offering online gambling in Austria without local authorisation must withdraw from the country’s market by January 1, 2027.

Those that fail to do so will be barred from applying for a licence for 18 months. From 2030, the exclusion period will increase to 24 months.

To combat illegal platforms, the authorities plan to block payments and websites and maintain a blacklist of operators.

A separate digital system will monitor a single player’s overall deposit limit across all licensed companies. The draft also provides for the creation of a central self-exclusion register.

Once the European Commission’s review has been completed, the draft is expected to return to the Austrian parliament for further consideration and approval.

* Part of the Casinos Austria group, 59.7% of which is controlled by international gambling company Allwyn, while 33.2% is owned by state holding company ÖBAG.