Austria opens online gambling market and compensates 20,000 players

End of the online monopoly

The central innovation of the draft is the liberalization of the domestic market: "An open concession system will be introduced for online gambling." Interested companies can apply for a license, which will initially be issued for five years. Requirements include share capital of at least ten million euros, a corporation with a supervisory board, a functioning compliance system, no outstanding tax debts, and the implementation of legally binding judgments by Austrian courts.

Companies that have previously been active in Austria without a license must cease their offerings from January 1, 2027, until they receive a concession in autumn 2027. "Anyone who continues to offer illegally after the cutoff date will be subject to an 18-month blocking period." ÖVP finance spokesperson Andreas Ottenschläger explained that the opening of the online market ends "outdated monopoly structures, creates new investment incentives, and strengthens Austria as a business location."

"According to the coalition, more than 20,000 players are to benefit, whose pending lawsuits are to be paid off." In addition, "all tax debts and unpaid losses from player lawsuits must be settled." SPÖ finance spokesperson Jan Krainer called the reform "overdue. It has been possible to bring many conflicting interests under one roof."

Compensation and player protection

A central exclusion register will be introduced for player protection, covering all providers and all forms of gaming – casinos, slot machines, and online. "To strengthen player protection, a central exclusion register is to be introduced that covers all providers and all types of gaming (casinos, slot machines, online)." The register will be populated by providers with data on individuals and their bets. "This is intended above all to keep addiction-prone players from gambling." NEOS health and capital markets spokesperson Christoph Pramhofer welcomed the liberalization as a modernization step: it creates "a modern market with healthy competition and high and binding player protection standards."

In addition, new monthly limits will be introduced. For online gambling, a maximum monthly wager of 1,680 euros will apply in the future for persons aged 26 and over, which applies to all bets in total. For slot machines, the maximum wager will be reduced from the current ten euros to five euros; however, the monthly limits there apply per provider. Before accepting any bet, providers must check whether the monthly limits are being adhered to.

Payment blocking against illegal providers

Another lever is so-called payment blocking: "Payment blocking In order to stop illegal gambling, payment blocking will be introduced for payments." All payment service providers in Austria must henceforth block the IBANs of illegal gambling providers published by the finance authorities. "Above all, international payment providers such as Visa or Paypal will be obliged to terminate their business relationships with illegal providers." Banks that knowingly and repeatedly violate these regulations face penalties of up to one million euros.

In addition, network and platform blocks are to neutralize illegal offerings. "Their homepages should no longer be accessible in Austria via network blocks" and "large cloud providers and search engines should be obliged to block these homepages in Austria." The Office for Fraud Prevention will receive new powers to make life difficult for providers that remain active. An idea that "ex-Finance Minister Gernot Blümel had already planned [but] has not been implemented to this day."

Authorities will also be allowed to conduct test purchases in the future, "including with children," to check compliance with the regulations in practice. Supervision of the sector currently lies with the tax authority; the coalition is planning the creation of a dedicated gambling authority for autumn – but it is not yet provided for in the current draft. Casinos Austria had criticized the draft and warned of an aggressive advertising strategy by the new, then legal market participants.

Gaps and exceptions

Sports betting remains less strictly regulated: In Austria – unlike in the rest of the EU – it is classified as a game of skill, and advertising and sponsorship are subject to the federal states rather than the federal government, despite the high potential for addiction. The draft refrains from further-reaching interventions here.

The political process is unusual: "However, there was no presentation before the Council of Ministers as is usual; the parliamentary clubs published a press release on Monday about the draft, which is now going into review." This now begins the multi-month review phase, before the package is to pass the Council of Ministers in July and Parliament in autumn.