Online Casino Austria: New Licensing Plan Nears EU Deadline

Austria’s proposed online casino reform has reached a European review milestone, but it is not yet final law. The European Commission’s Technical Regulation Information System records 5 November 2026 as the end of the standstill period for Austria’s notified draft. Until that period ends, Austria can continue parliamentary work but cannot adopt the notified technical rules.

The draft would replace the current single-concession model for online gambling with an unlimited number of Austrian concessions. It would also introduce player limits, a central exclusion system, a public warning list, payment blocking and website-blocking procedures. The intended timetable allows concessions to be granted from 1 January 2027 and to take effect from 1 October 2027, subject to the legislation completing the Austrian and EU review process.

Austria notified the draft Gambling Reform Act to the European Commission on 4 August 2026 under Directive (EU) 2015/1535. The procedure gives the Commission and other member states time to examine technical rules affecting information-society services and the single market. The listed standstill end date is 5 November 2026.

The deadline is not an EU licence approval and does not itself enact the reform. It marks the scheduled end of a period during which Austria must refrain from adopting the notified provisions. A comment or detailed opinion can affect the process, and Austria’s parliament must still approve the final legislation. Dates, limits and implementation details can therefore change before publication in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette.

For players, the immediate legal position does not change on 5 November merely because the standstill expires. A casino does not become Austrian-licensed because it holds a licence elsewhere, applies for a future concession or appears in an advert aimed at Austrian users. Current authorisation must be checked under the law in force at the time of play.

The notified text would allow the Gambling Supervisory Authority to grant an unlimited number of online gambling concessions. The first award would last for up to five years, with later extensions of up to ten years. An applicant would need at least €10 million in capital and a registered office in the European Union or European Economic Area. Some foreign companies could operate through an Austrian branch where comparable home-state supervision and enforcement conditions are met.

The plan is broader than opening a list of casino websites. It creates a supervisory system intended to record gambling activity, apply deposit controls and give the authority direct access for compliance monitoring. Online terms and conditions would have to be notified to the authority, while approved conditions and concession information would be made available through official publication systems.

Existing authorisation is also addressed. The draft extends the current electronic-lottery concession to the end of 2028 unless a new online concession takes effect earlier. This transition is one reason players should not treat the planned October 2027 opening as proof that every internationally licensed operator will be legal in Austria from that date.

A business that previously offered online gambling for participation from Austria without national authorisation would not be automatically excluded from the future market. The draft instead sets conditions. It must pay outstanding Austrian gambling duties, comply with final Austrian civil judgments and stop the prohibited offering from 1 January 2027 until a concession is granted.

Stopping later would trigger a waiting period. Under the notified text, an operator ending the unauthorised offer after 31 December 2026 would be excluded from receiving a concession for 18 months from cessation. The period would rise to 24 months where the activity stops only after 31 December 2029. Group companies, beneficial ownership, brands and confusingly similar marks can be considered, which is intended to prevent a business from avoiding the requirements through a new entity or lightly altered name.

These provisions do not guarantee repayment in an individual case. They require final judgments to be fulfilled as a condition of entry, but a player with a dispute still needs to understand the applicable claim, limitation period and enforcement route. Independent Austrian legal advice may be appropriate where significant sums are involved.

The draft sets a baseline deposit limit of no more than €250 per week for players up to age 26 and €1,680 per month for players aged 26 or over. From age 23, a different limit could be permitted where it does not create a player-protection risk and where additional controls—such as behavioural monitoring and feedback tools—apply at the appropriate level. These are draft provisions, not a recommendation to deposit those amounts.

Players would also have to set binding maximum spending and time limits by day, week and month. Reductions would take effect immediately, while an increase would require a 72-hour delay. A proposed cross-operator online gambling supervisory system would support deposit limits across concession holders, rather than allowing a player to reset exposure simply by moving to another licensed site.

A central exclusion register would cover self-imposed and operator-imposed bans or restrictions across online gambling, casinos and relevant machine gambling. The detailed operation of both the exclusion register and limit system would still depend on ministerial regulations and technical implementation. The draft also extends counselling and credit-report obligations where gambling behaviour may threaten a person’s livelihood.

For online gambling delivered as virtual gaming machines, the notified text applies a maximum €5 stake per game and maximum possible financial reward of €10,000 per game. Each game would have to last at least two seconds and be started separately by the player. Simultaneous play and side games that raise the stake or potential winnings above those limits would be prohibited.

After 90 minutes of uninterrupted play, the game would enter a cooling-off period lasting at least 15 minutes. During that period, the player would be shown information about gambling risks. A displayed theoretical payout ratio would have to fall within the statutory range specified by the draft. None of these controls would make slots safe or profitable: they limit aspects of product design and exposure, not the possibility of losing the full amount staked.

The reform would give Austria’s Anti-Fraud Office new tools against online gambling supplied without an Austrian concession. The official impact assessment describes procedures for blocking illegal services, publishing warning notices and restricting payments to and from identified providers. The draft also provides for a searchable blacklist containing details that payment providers can use to identify affected transactions.

Website blocking would follow a legal process rather than a casino disappearing solely because of a private complaint. The impact assessment says action would first target hosting services where practical and could reach Austrian internet-access providers if other measures fail. Smaller access providers with fewer than 2,000 subscribers are described as exempt. Payment blocks are expected to affect digital payment and card providers more often than ordinary bank-account providers.

A failed card payment, blocked domain or warning-list entry should be treated as a reason to stop, not as an invitation to use cryptocurrency, a mirror site or another person’s account. Circumventing a control can increase the risk of fraud, loss and an unenforceable dispute. Preserve the exact domain, payment reference and message if money appears to be trapped, then contact the payment provider and seek qualified advice.

The reform is designed to move players towards nationally supervised operators, but licensing is not a guarantee of winnings, fast withdrawals or a dispute-free account. Check current local terms and the official record each time a service or domain changes. Online gambling is for adults aged 18 or over in Austria, every stake can be lost, and anyone struggling to stay within a limit should stop and use exclusion or independent support rather than switch sites.

Sources: European Commission TRIS, notification 2026/0415/AT, “Federal Act amending the Gambling Act and the Telecommunications Act 2021” (received 4 August 2026; standstill scheduled to end 5 November 2026); Republic of Austria, English draft text of the Gambling Reform Act 2026 (notified 4 August 2026, licensing, player-protection, blocking and commencement provisions); Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance, outcome-oriented impact assessment (dated 25 June 2026, policy objectives, enforcement measures and implementation assumptions); and SBC News, “Austria faces TRIS deadline for EU approval of new gaming orders” (19 October 2026, secondary reporting on the standstill timetable).