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New Italian online bingo regulations allowing a broad range of variants have been adopted, potentially leading to a major change for a game that was struggling.
With a delay of around 4/5 years from the date initially expected, new Italian online bingo variant regulations are finally in place and a big question mark relates to their impact on online bingo that had been relegated to a minor game during the last years.
What changes with new Italian online bingo variants rules?
Italian online bingo rules were based on land-based bingo regulations so far. This means that only bingo 90 was allowed, limited types of prizes could be offered and the whole game was controller by the servers of the regulator which was issuing the cards and the numbers. Basically, operators were running a sort of “skin” of the regulator’s platform, with the sole possibility to change the design of the game.
The main changes introduced by new online bingo rules are:
1. The game is now run by operators
As it happens for casino games, the RNG and the platform are now managed by each operator that will need to have them as well as each game certified by a testing lab accredited with the Italian gambling authority.
2. The mechanic of the game have very limited restrictions
While in the past only bingo 90 could be offered and the mechanic of prizes that could be offered was considerably restricted, the new rules only provide that
- the maximum price of cards is € 10, while the minimum price is € 0.01 which is aimed at enabling Italian online bingo to become more a soft game;
- it is possible to have a maximum number of 100 numbers/symbols drawn;
- no major restrictions are imposed on the mechanic of the game, but prizes cannot resamble lotto and other numbering games that are subject of exclusive licenses;
- the minimum payout is 70% and
- it is possible for operators to allocate to jackpots no more than 30% of the payout, also anticipating the value of jackpots up to a maximum value of € 100,000 that shall be then recovered by the operator during the following gaming sessions.
3. The taxation remains unchanged
The taxation on online bingo remains equal to
- 20% of the GGR as gaming tax, plus
- 1% of the turnover as contribution for the services received by the gambling regulator.
4. A 4 to 6 months transitional period
The new Italian online bingo regulations will become applicable in November 2018, but operators will have time up to the beginning of January 2019 to implement the changes necessary to comply with them. Therefore, there will be a 2 month period when both the old and the new regime will be in place.
What will be the impact on the Italian online gaming market?
It is hard to foresee whether online bingo will become a major game with the new rules. This is certainly a game that is part of the Italian tradition, but the competition from sportsbetting and casino games will be difficult to beat.
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