Italy is set to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of its online gambling laws, with the government recently granting approval for the “Reorganisation Decree” to address ongoing issues within the industry.
The announcement on January 2 revealed the approval of the terms proposed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) for this regulatory evaluation —the first since the market’s official approval in 2011.
The primary objectives of this reform are to ensure player protection, particularly for minors, boost tax revenue for social initiatives and government projects, and tackle criminal activities associated with gambling. One significant change involves the introduction of a new licensing system, where each online gambling licence will incur an authorization fee of €7 million. This fee will be accompanied by a 3% operating fee for concessionaires.
The Decree also includes measures to combat illegal gambling, promote self-limitation in gambling activities, impose restrictions based on deposit levels, and disseminate warning messages. Furthermore, the government aims to implement additional safeguards to block unlicensed payments and websites associated with illegal operators, with the objective of curbing Italian consumers’ exposure to the €1 billion black market.
Earlier, the European Gambling and Betting Association has raised concerns over the proposed surge in online gambling licence fees in Italy.
Meanwhile, Portugal revealed that the country witnessed a historic milestone in its online gambling revenue in the third quarter of 2023, as reported by the Gambling Inspection and Regulation Service.
The revenue during this period soared to an impressive €215.3 million, marking a 4.6% increase from the previous record set in the second quarter of the same year at €205.9 million. Furthermore, this figure demonstrated a substantial growth of 36.1% when compared to the third quarter of 2022.
A significant part of the total revenue from July 1 to September 30, 2023, amounting to €133.4 million, was attributed to online casinos.
Portuguese residents spent €3.65 billion for online gambling during the third quarter. 82.3% of this amount was allocated to online slots.
Simultaneously, revenue from brick-and-mortar gambling experienced an increase of 14.0%, reaching €76.1 million.
