Austria's Ministry of Finance has submitted the draft gambling law to the European Commission for review. A three-month standstill period now begins, after which the law can be enacted. Parliamentary process continues in parallel.
The reform centres on online gambling regulation and player protection. A unified self-exclusion register will cover land-based and online casinos, slots and games. Players aged 18 to 26 face lower deposit limits. Slot machines will see reduced spin speed and stake size, with a mandatory break after 90 minutes of play.
Online licences will be awarded through an open tender. Operators who have worked illegally must cease activity by 1 January 2027. Failure to do so triggers a licensing moratorium: 18 months until 2030, then 24 months. Illegal operators must settle tax debts and resolve player complaints, which number around 20,000. Payment blocking, blacklists and network blocks will target the black market.
Land-based casinos will receive a maximum of 13 concessions, which may be bundled. When awarded as packages, priority goes to reducing inter-site competition in the interest of player protection and stakeholder balance. All 12 current concessions belong to Casinos Austria, which backs the package model. Smaller operators had pushed for separate licences.
Observers expect the split into packages of six and seven concessions to admit a second major operator such as Merkur, while excluding firms seeking a single site.
