Italy is set to witness a restructuring of its online gambling regulatory framework after the government approved the Reorganisation Decree mandate, signalling the first alterations to the market since it opened in 2011.
The government announced on January 2 that it had approved the terms of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance’s proposed Reorganisation Decree, which aims to launch a regulatory evaluation into the nation’s igaming regulation,
The decree lays out plans to protect players, and minors in particular, while combating criminal activity and increasing tax revenue for governmental and social social initiatives.
Under the terms of the decree, Italy will adopt a fresh licensing framework to apply a €7m authorisation fee for each online gambling licence, as well as a concessionaire’s operating fee of three per cent.
Moreover, future concessionaires will be required to pay an annual fee of 0.2 per cent of their net revenues. The charge will fund initiatives for responsible gaming, overseen by a new specific gambling department that will report to the ADM, Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency.
Each operating group within the Italian market, including Flutter, Entain and Lottomatica, will also be limited to five licences due to the concessions, as the MEF aims to reduce the number of ‘skin websites’ selling single concessionaire products.
The proposals within the decree have been met with some criticism from Italian online gambling trade body Logico, which warned against the increasing licensing fees that have gone from just €200,000 to the new €7m figure.
Both Logico and fellow trade body Acadi had warned against the authorisation of the Reorganisation Decree without considering the insight of the gambling industry on proposed changes
Despite warnings from the industry, the Italian government is expecting ‘at least 50 operators’ to apply for the new concession, a healthy majority of the nation’s existing 83 operators.
Treasury Deputy Minister Maurizio Leo, who will oversee the government’s regulatory gambling overhaul, supported the decree, suggesting that it “will allow the government to put an end to the legal disputes on licensing extensions.”
The new framework had also been supported by High Court judges wishing to combat a backlog of legal challenges from operators challenging the ADM on the terms of existing concessions.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni endorsed the reorganisation of Italian gambling across both online and land-based verticals, branding the sector as a key economic contributor having raised tax revenues of €11bn in 2022.
