Austria plans to reform online gambling monopoly

The Austrian government is proposing significant reforms to the national gambling laws, aiming to end the current restrictive concession model. Under the existing system, the Austrian Lotteries hold the license for electronic lotteries and operate the legal online platform win2day.

The proposed legislation seeks to open the online market to multiple licensed providers through an open concession process. This reform, which has seen cooperation between the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS parties, also focuses on enhancing player protection and control mechanisms.

The reform is currently in the parliamentary process, and the EU standstill period is set to run until November 5. While the current model is expected to remain in place until late September 2027, the new framework would require operators to meet strict requirements, including financial stability proofs, IT security concepts following ISO-27001, and effective anti-money laundering systems.