Austria sets €10m bar for iGaming licences

• Austria’s government has launched a public consultation on draft licensing rules for its planned October 2027 online gambling market.
• Prospective licensees will need at least €10m in share capital, far above thresholds in Estonia and Finland.
• Stakeholders have until 15 July 2026 to submit feedback on the proposed framework.

Austria has opened public consultations on the licensing conditions that will underpin its liberalised online gambling market, due to launch in October 2027.

The draft paper builds on the multi-licence framework first leaked from the Finance Ministry in May, setting out capital, compliance and player protection requirements for prospective licensees.

It marks the biggest overhaul of Austrian gambling law in 26 years. The consultation follows last week’s agreement between the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and NEOS to fix October 2027 as the launch date, ending the long-standing monopoly held by Casinos Austria and its online brand Win2Day.

Capital bar set high

Eligible operators will need a supervisory board, effective anti-money laundering controls and player protection compliance to apply. The standout requirement, however, is a minimum share capital of €10m, alongside a €70,000 licence fee.

That threshold is notably steeper than in other European jurisdictions courting foreign igaming investment. Estonia, which is gradually cutting its gambling tax to rival Malta’s rate, requires only €1m in share capital for online licence applicants.

Finland, where more than 50 operators have already applied for its own liberalised market, has set no fixed minimum. Permissions there are assessed case by case instead.

Operators that were active in Austria without a licence face a cooling-off period. They must cease operations by 1 January 2027 before any licence can be granted, and breaching this rule bars an applicant from licensing for 18 months.

Licences will only go to operators based in jurisdictions where Austrian court judgments are enforceable, a condition that puts renewed scrutiny on the Malta enforcement dispute tied to the country’s contested Bill 55. Applicants must also have settled outstanding tax debts and player protection claims before entry.

Trade body the Austrian Betting and Gaming Association (OVWG) has previously warned that the cooling-off rules risk excluding experienced operators from the new market. It argues this could leave room for unlicensed competitors with no intention of seeking a licence at all.

Player limits and tech rules

Players aged 18 to 26 will face weekly deposit limits of €250, while those aged 26 and over face a cap of €1,680 per month. Operators can request case-by-case increases for players aged 23 and above.

Stakes will be limited to €5 per round, with total winnings capped at €10,000. Draft technical rules require each spin to last at least two seconds, with a mandatory break after 90 minutes of continuous play.

The existing ban on jackpot features will be lifted under the new regime. The number of land-based casino licences nationwide will be fixed at 13.

Enforcement and next steps

The planned regulator will gain powers to blacklist IBANs and order payment providers to block transactions, alongside IP-blocking measures carried out through AWS, Cloudflare and Google. A centralised self-exclusion registry is also proposed.

This registry would cover all gambling products except lotteries, which will remain solely under Win2Day’s management. The draft also confirms plans for a fully independent gambling authority to eventually take over licensing and supervision from the Finance Ministry, though it sets no firm deadline beyond “no later than 2030”.

Until that body is operational, the ministry will continue to issue and oversee licences directly. Stakeholders now have until 15 July 2026 to submit feedback on the draft conditions, after which the government must notify the European Commission before the law can take effect, triggering a mandatory three-month standstill period under EU single-market rules.

The consultation gives international operators a narrow but defined window to shape the rules before they harden into law. With a €10m capital floor and a 45 per cent GGR tax rate already in force, the market looks set to favour established, well-capitalised brands over smaller entrants betting on Austria’s eventual opening.

The delayed timeline for an independent regulator also means the politically sensitive Finance Ministry will retain hands-on control of licensing well into the new regime’s early years.