Austria Opens the Door to Licensed Online Casinos While Targeting Illegal Operators

Austria has taken an important step towards opening its online gambling market to licensed online casinos in 2027 by sending a draft law to the European Commission with suggested changes.

The Austrian authorities state that the current rules have not been effective in stopping illegal gambling, which continues to exist outside the legal system. This is why they plan to introduce stricter measures against unlicensed operators, whose activities slow the development of the legal market and put consumers at risk.

The proposed law includes stronger measures to fight illegal operators, such as blocking payments, creating blacklists, and limiting access to illegal gambling websites. Operators currently working without a license must cease their activities by 1 January 2027 and settle all outstanding taxes and other payments owed to the state before becoming eligible for a license. Those that fail to meet these requirements within the deadline will have to wait 18 months after ceasing operations before they can apply. At a later stage, this waiting period will be extended to 30 months.

The draft law also includes several measures to improve consumer protection. These include a national self-exclusion register, a single system for monitoring deposit limits, and lower monthly deposit limits for players aged 18 to 25.

The proposal will now go through the required three-month review by the European Commission and the other EU Member States. If no major objections are raised, Austria will be able to complete the legislative process and open its market to licensed online casino operators in 2027.