Austria’s Finance Ministry has finalised a draft gambling law that would end Casinos Austria’s monopoly on online casino gaming, allowing an uncapped number of operators to enter the market under a strictly regulated licensing system.
The draft, obtained and reported by iGB, confirms that multiple providers will be able to offer online gambling in Austria under a new licensing regime. Under the current rules, Win2day, a brand of Austrian Lotteries and a Casinos Austria subsidiary, holds the only permit for online gaming in the country. Casinos Austria also holds all 12 land-based casino concessions.
Lotteries would remain a state monopoly under the proposals. Online casino licences would initially run for five years, with an option to extend by a further 10.
Backdated Tax Liability as the Price of Entry
International operators have been pushing for an opening of the Austrian market for years. Access to the new licensing regime is likely to come at significant cost.
Arthur Stadler, a Vienna-based gambling law specialist, told iGB that operators would only qualify for a licence by settling all outstanding Austrian court rulings and paying Austrian taxes, including for years already elapsed.
“Operators may only qualify for a licence by settling outstanding Austrian court rulings and paying Austrian taxes – including for the past.”
Stadler described these obligations as potentially “incredibly high sums” that could exclude smaller operators, creating a de facto limit on market entrants despite there being no formal cap on licence numbers. He said the absence of a formal cap was nonetheless a strongly positive outcome.
This latest development follows Austria’s advances in online gambling law reform, which were first reported as the 2027 licence expiry came into focus.
Player Protection Requirements
The draft sets out a comprehensive player protection framework that all licensed online operators would be required to implement.
Players under 26 would face a €250 weekly deposit limit. Those aged 26 and above would be subject to a €1,680 weekly cap, which could be raised if a player can demonstrate sufficient financial standing.
Maximum stakes would be cut to €2 per spin or game round, down from current thresholds of between €5 and €10. Maximum winnings would fall from the existing €5,000–€10,000 range to €2,000. Jackpots would be prohibited entirely.
Operators would also be required to enforce mandatory cooling-off periods: players must take at least a 15-minute break after 90 consecutive minutes of play. Player protection standards already in force for land-based slot machines, including speed-of-play restrictions, would carry across to online products. A national self-exclusion scheme would operate through the regulator.
The proposed framework is among the most restrictive being considered in Europe. Italy’s recent relicensing process, which issued 52 permits in 2025, similarly used market opening as an opportunity to impose tighter consumer protection obligations on incoming operators.
Coalition Politics and Timeline
The Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), which controls the Finance Ministry, published a first version of the draft in January 2026. That version had proposed extending the gambling monopoly, a position reversed after resistance from coalition partners, the liberal NEOS and the centre-right ÖVP.
The revised draft requires sign-off from all three parties before a parliamentary vote, which must be held ahead of the summer recess in early July.
Win2day’s current online gaming licence expires in 2027, alongside several land-based concessions held by Casinos Austria. The draft allows for extensions if the new concessions process faces delays, including from legal challenges.
An independent gambling authority, which would take over the licensing function from the Ministry of Finance, could be operational by 2030 at the earliest. In the interim, the ministry itself would grant licences directly.
Simon Priglinger-Simader, president of the ÖVWG industry association, said the sector is “feeling more hopeful than ever” but noted that “tricky points” remain to be resolved in the coming days before the text can go to a vote.
For operators monitoring Austria, the central unknowns are the size of backdated tax exposures and whether the proposed player protection restrictions will prove workable, particularly the €2 stake cap and the outright jackpot ban. Neither question will be answered until the final version clears parliament.
Source: iGaming Business
