Austrian Finance Ministry expects 20 bidders for online gambling licences

The impact assessment behind the bill assumes 45% of online gambling will take place with licensed operators once the market opens, rising to 75% by 2030.

Austria’s Ministry of Finance expects 20 companies to apply for the country’s first open online gambling licences, according to the impact assessment attached to its gambling reform bill. The bill has yet to be debated by parliament’s Finance Committee, and the EU standstill on its adoption is due to end in early November.

Bill still waiting for committee debate

The government bill 594 d.B. reached the Nationalrat on 5 August 2026 and was assigned to the Finance Committee on 14 September. As of 20 October, the committee had not yet begun discussing it. 

The ministry notified the draft to the European Commission on 4 August, triggering a three-month standstill period. The law cannot be adopted before that period ends, although the ministry said the parliamentary process can continue in the meantime.

The ministry’s market assumptions

The regulatory impact assessment published with the bill bases its fee estimates on 20 companies applying for an online licence. It sets out assumptions for the share of online gambling taking place with licensed operators, and the resulting net revenue gain for federal, state, and municipal budgets.

Source: Austrian Ministry of Finance, impact assessment to bill 594 d.B.

In the medium term, the ministry is aiming for channelisation of at least 80%. It expects the gambling tax now collected from unlicensed online operators, which averages around €40 million a year, to disappear from 2030 as those operators either leave the market or move into the licensed regime. The ministry repeated its 20-applicant estimate in response to a query from Austrian news site MeinBezirk, which published its report on 17 October. 

Licence terms and entry conditions

The bill places no cap on the number of online licences, while the number of land-based casino licences would be set at 13. 

• Licences could be awarded from 1 January 2027 and take effect on 1 October 2027. 
• Each would be granted for up to five years in the first instance and up to 10 on renewal. 
• Applicants would have to be companies with a supervisory board, based in the EU or EEA and holding at least €10 million in paid-up capital. 
• The application fee would be €70,000, with a further €300,000 due when a licence is first granted.

For operators that have served Austrian players without a licence, a great deal depends on when they leave. Those that stop by 1 January 2027 and stay out until they are licensed face no waiting period. Leaving any later triggers an 18-month exclusion, counted from the date they stop, which rises to 24 months for operators that only stop after 31 December 2029. They would also have to pay any gambling tax that is due and not yet time-barred, and settle every final judgment players have won against them in Austrian civil courts. 

These conditions apply across the whole corporate group up to the beneficial owner, and to any brand used for an unlicensed offering in Austria.

Deposit limits and enforcement

Online deposits would be capped at €250 a week for players under 26 and €1,680 a month for older players. For players aged 23 and over, a licensee could set a different limit if it has assessed that the player is not at risk and applies additional monitoring. Increases to self-set limits would take effect only after 72 hours.

The legal basis for the cross-operator exclusion register, the deposit limit register, website and payment blocking, and a public blacklist would take effect on 1 January 2027. The finance minister can set by ordinance the date from which operators must join the two registers. 

The bill also requires the minister to report to parliament on the online regime by the end of 2031, including how the cross-operator deposit limit has affected player protection and channelisation.

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