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The Italian Parliament has adopted a delegation law providing the largest reform of the gambling sector occurred in Italy during the last thirty years.
What Are the Main Terms of envisaged Gambling Reform in Italy?
The law delegates the Italian government to reorganize the existing provisions of the gambling sector while maintaining the current licensing system based on concessions provided by the State.
Furthermore, the law enables the government to introduce measures focused on:
- Protecting the most vulnerable individuals and preventing gambling addiction;
- Determining the geographic locations of gambling shops and halls;
- Setting the KYC requirements for license holders;
- Managing conflicts in relationships with license holders;
- Defining the applicable tax regime, even though there is no specific reference to a change in tax rates; and
- Outlining the qualifications and responsibilities of certification bodies for amusement machines.
Additionally, the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance is tasked with establishing a program to address illegal gambling. The same ministry must also provide an annual report on the public gaming sector to Parliament.
What will change for the Italian gambling sector?
Concerning the protection of minors and prevention of illegal gambling, upcoming measures will introduce both technical and regulatory steps. These are designed to safeguard vulnerable individuals and mitigate issues of gambling disorders and underage gambling. The measures include:
- Reducing play and winning limits;
- Mandating continuous training for operators and merchants;
- Enhancing self-exclusion tools for players, including a national registry where individuals can voluntarily exclude themselves from games with monetary rewards;
- Specifying essential features required for gambling halls and other gaming venues;
- Requiring certification for each gaming machine;
- Banning bets on amateur sports events exclusive to minors under 18.
Furthermore, the reform stipulates that online gambling operators may only use physical shops for supplementary services. This excludes any offering of remote gambling or the payout of its associated winnings. This approach targets and curbs the trend observed with some online gambling operators who run shop networks without gambling licenses, but which function similarly to betting shops by accepting deposits and paying out winnings.
What is Not Covered by the Reform?
This reform notably omits any mention of new regulations on gambling advertising. The current Italian ban on gambling advertising has proven ineffective in reducing gambling addiction and has even led to ambiguous practices potentially more hazardous to the public.
Before this ban, there were already rules governing gambling advertising. Properly enforcing these pre-existing regulations would offer a more effective and transparent means of safeguarding individuals.
On a similar topic, you can find the following article useful “How affiliates are impacted by the Italian gambling advertising ban“.
