Austria is in the last few months of negotiations to create a new iGaming law that will bring the end of the country’s online gambling monopoly as it is based on current license expires in 2027.
One of the key issues being debated during the negotiations is whether or not to implement a “cooling off” period for operators who attempted to operate without a local Austrian license prior to the regulated market.
Industry experts believe that a cooling off period of 2-3 years will mainly affect EU licensed operators who were operating in Austria’s grey market prior to legalization.
The state controlled operator, Casinos Austria, publicly supports the proposal. Casinos Austria has argued that allowing operators to operate without a local license and then going directly into a regulated environment would compromise the credibility of the new framework.
The Austrian Betting and Gaming Association (OWVG) is of the opinion that a “cooling off” period would ultimately force customers to unregulated websites and reduce tax collections at the same time that it would undermine the government’s goal of channeling customer traffic into a regulated legal environment.
The proposed legislation would create a €2 maximum bet limit and a €2,000 maximum payout per game, however, many industry members believe that the limits are too restrictive and will make it difficult for licensed operators to compete against competing unlicensed operators.
Although negotiations continue to work through many outstanding issues, the government is expected to complete the iGaming legislation before parliament returns from summer break in July.
