Austria has published its first draft gambling reform package for public consultation, and the plan would end the country’s long-standing online monopoly and open the market to private operators. The coalition government has described it as Austria’s biggest gambling reform in 26 years.
The change would reverse a system under which online gambling sits inside a national monopoly, while gambling, casinos and lotteries are governed by the Law on Games of Chance and supervised by the finance ministry. The ministry says cross-border gambling via the internet is not allowed and that monopoly violations can trigger civil or administrative penalties.
The draft was agreed by the three-party coalition of the Austrian People’s Party, the Social Democratic Party and NEOS. In the government’s telling, the aim is a more transparent and competitive market, but also tighter consumer protection and a stronger response to illegal operators.
Private companies would be allowed to apply for online licences if they meet regulatory conditions, including anti-money-laundering controls, player-protection systems and at least €10 million in share capital. One report also said applicants would face a €70,000 licence fee and would need to clear tax debts and outstanding player-protection claims.
The reform would not reward operators that kept serving the market illegally. Companies seeking a licence would have to stop offering illegal online gambling in Austria from 1 January 2027, and those that comply would become eligible from 30 September 2027.
Operators that continue past that deadline would initially face an 18-month wait before they could apply, with the penalty rising to 24 months from 1 January 2030. One report said the regime is aimed at an October 2027 launch, giving regulators and operators time to prepare.
The package also reaches into payment systems. Banks and payment service providers operating in Austria would be required to block payments linked to illegal gambling businesses, and international firms such as Visa and PayPal would be expected to end relationships with unlicensed operators.
The government is also looking at website blocking, working with large cloud providers and search engines, including Cloudflare, AWS and Google, to limit access to illegal gambling sites. According to the coalition, the aim is to cut off payment options on illegal sites as much as possible.
Player-protection rules would be tightened at the same time. The draft creates a central exclusion register covering almost all gambling forms except lotteries, allowing both self-exclusion and operator-imposed exclusions to be recorded in one place.
It would also impose deposit limits across online gambling and land-based slot venues. Players aged 18 to 26 would be capped at €250 a week, while those over 26 would face a €1,680 monthly limit.
Higher limits would only be possible after affordability checks and continued monitoring, with one report saying that case-by-case increases could start from age 23. The draft also introduces a cross-operator system to monitor deposit limits centrally.
Slot-machine rules would tighten as well. The minimum spin speed would rise to two seconds, a mandatory cooling-off break would kick in after 90 minutes of continuous play, and the maximum stake would be cut to €5 a spin while the €10,000 win cap stays in place.
At the same time, the draft would lift the current ban on jackpots, a move officials say would help licensed operators compete more effectively with the black market. Those limits and protections would apply to both retail and online slots.
The reform has drawn support from figures in the coalition, but with different emphasis. ÖVP finance spokesperson Andreas Ottenschläger called it a step toward more competition, legal certainty and fair market conditions, while saying it would strengthen player protection and act against illegal providers.
SPÖ finance spokesperson Jan Krainer said the overhaul was long overdue and argued that it would improve player protection and bring order to an online market he described as murky and corrupt. NEOS spokesperson Christoph Pramhofer said regulated gambling offers the best player protection and that the online market should be opened in a controlled way with uniform rules.
The consultation on the draft is open until 15 July.
