Feature: Legislation Report
Update Report on Gaming Legislation in Austria, Bulgaria and Germany
Austria
Gambling, casinos, and lotteries in Austria are regulated by the Law on Games of Chance and are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, which is also the supervising authority. The Finanzamt Österreich (Tax Office Austria) is the regulator that governs the games of chance that fall within the scope of the federal monopoly on games of chance as defined in the Gaming Act. As a courtesy, the betting act which is in force in some federal states dates back to 1919. Certain exceptions to the above (e.g. betting activities, low-stakes games of chance, games of skill, etc.) exist and are in part regulated by nine Federal States of Austria and their regional laws. The gaming law does in a way differentiate between Volume 18: Issue 150
remote and land-based gaming, and distinctions need to be made based on the type of gaming under review. In addition, all nine states’ betting laws require some sort of physical presence (brick and mortar) in the state territory, such as outlets or servers, for operators to fall within the ambit of the state betting laws. Licenses for games of chance regulated under the federal monopoly are limited in number and subject to a public tender procedure. Only one license is available for lotteries, electronic lotteries (online) and VLTs, i.e. constituting a monopoly, while licenses for operating sports betting are not limited in number, and anyone who fulfils the preconditions of the relevant state betting law may be granted a license. Five states (Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Tyrol and Lower 17
