New Gambling Law to Come Without Liberalization

The new gambling authority will in the future grant licenses for online gambling, which will allow the lotteries to continue their online offering Win2Day. In return, the concessions for the "Video Lottery Terminals" of the Austrian Lotteries will expire. Currently, there are 20 WinWin locations with about 850 machines. These differ from the "small gambling", which is regulated by the federal states. In the future, there may only be one machine per 1,200 inhabitants per federal state, instead of one per 600 inhabitants as before.

New Gambling Law to Expand Player Protection

But the new law is also set to impose strict limits on stakes: While the deposit limit per game was previously 10 euros, it is to be reduced to 2 euros according to the draft law. Winnings and losses are also to be limited: The maximum win will be reduced from 10,000 euros to 2,000 euros. And for individuals up to 26 years old, the loss is to be limited to a maximum of 250 euros per week, for those over 26 to a maximum of 1,680 euros.

Providers of unlicensed online gambling are also to be made life difficult: IP blocking is intended to prevent access to online sites from an Austrian IP address. And payment blocking is intended to ensure that no money can be transferred from Austrian accounts to the accounts of the providers. While this may not prevent participation in gambling, it could at least make it more difficult.

Changes are also planned for the classic casinos: In the future, only 12 classic casinos are to be tendered, with the tendering also possible in packages. Recently, 15 casino locations were tendered in Austria, but only 12 were awarded.

(APA/Red)

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