Austria has taken its biggest step in more than three decades towards a licensed online casino market. On 4 August 2026 the country’s Ministry of Finance submitted a draft of its new Gambling Act to the European Commission, starting a three-month review that could finally replace the state monopoly with an open licensing system. For players, this is not just a legal formality. The draft sets out tighter deposit limits, a national self-exclusion register and stronger action against unlicensed sites, which together could reshape how safe and regulated online play looks in Austria from 2027.

What has happened?

The Austrian Ministry of Finance notified Brussels of its proposed gambling law through the European Commission’s Technical Regulation Information System, known as TRIS. Under EU rules, draft national measures that cover online services must be sent to the Commission and held for a set standstill period before a member state can adopt them. That standstill runs for three months, although the ministry has confirmed that Austria’s own parliamentary process can continue while the clock ticks.

The reform targets the Gambling Act of 1989, the Glücksspielgesetz, which built Austria’s monopoly framework around exclusive licences held by Österreichische Lotterien for online gambling and Casinos Austria for land-based venues. That structure has faced years of legal challenges from European operators who argued it clashed with the EU principle of free movement of services. The new draft replaces the monopoly with an open licensing procedure, allowing operators that meet strict regulatory, financial and player-protection standards to apply. Land-based casino licences would be capped at 13 and could be awarded in packages.

Why Austria online casino reform matters for players

A licensed market usually means clearer rules and more accountable operators. When a country opens to multiple licensees under a single rulebook, players gain a recognised list of sites that answer to a regulator, along with defined standards for verification, complaints handling and responsible gambling. That is the direction Austria is now heading.

The draft also tries to clean up the past. Operators that have been serving Austrian customers without authorisation must stop by 1 January 2027 to be eligible for a licence. Those that fail to comply face an 18-month wait before they can apply, rising to 24 months from 2030. Applicants must also settle any outstanding tax debts and unpaid player-protection claims before a licence is granted. The ministry estimates this could deliver restitution for around 20,000 players in Austria with claims against unlicensed operators. If you want to understand why a licence matters when choosing where to play, our guide to safe online casinos explains what to look for.

Stronger deposit limits and a national self-exclusion register

The player-protection measures are the most significant part of the package. Austria plans a central, operator-independent deposit limit that applies across all licensed online operators, so a player cannot simply move to another site to spend more. Younger adults aged between 18 and 26 would face lower limits, reflecting a growing trend across Europe to give this group extra protection.

For the first time, Austria would also introduce a national self-exclusion register that spans operators and product types. It would record both self-imposed and operator-imposed exclusions across casino, slot machine venues and online gambling, closing the gap that lets some players circumvent a block by switching brands. Slot machines face further limits too, including reduced game speeds, lower maximum stakes and a mandatory cooling-off period after 90 minutes of continuous play. Tools like these sit at the heart of responsible gambling, and a cross-operator register is one of the more effective ways to make self-exclusion actually work.

What it could mean for bonuses, payments and enforcement

Regulated markets tend to reshape promotions. When deposit limits and affordability checks tighten, operators usually adjust how they market welcome offers and other casino bonuses, and bonus terms often become more conservative. Nothing in the Austrian draft bans bonuses outright, but players should expect promotions in a licensed Austrian market to carry clearer conditions than they may have seen on unlicensed sites.

Payments and enforcement are closely linked in the plan. The reform gives authorities stronger tools to disrupt illegal gambling, including payment blocking, blacklisting and network blocking, all coordinated through a new digital regulatory platform. Payment blocking in particular can stop deposits and withdrawals reaching unlicensed operators, which is one reason verified, licensed sites are becoming the safer route for anyone who values reliable withdrawals. The same digital platform would monitor compliance with the new deposit-limit and player-protection rules in real time.

What players should watch next

Two dates stand out. The first is the end of the three-month EU standstill, which shapes when the law can formally pass. The second is 1 January 2027, the deadline for unlicensed operators to leave the Austrian market if they want a route to a future licence. Between now and the planned market opening in 2027, the detail of the rules could still shift as the Commission and other member states submit opinions through the TRIS process.

Players in Austria, or those following Europe’s shift towards licensed markets, should watch which operators publicly commit to applying, how the deposit-limit system is built, and when the self-exclusion register goes live. Each of these will signal how quickly a safer, regulated market takes shape.

Betspin view

Austria is following a path already taken by markets such as the Netherlands and, more recently, Finland: closing a monopoly and opening to licensed competition while raising the bar on player protection. For players, the headline is not the end of the monopoly itself but what replaces it. A central deposit limit, a cross-operator self-exclusion register and firm action on illegal sites are the kind of measures that make licensed play more trustworthy. The draft still has to clear its EU review and pass through parliament, so some details may change, and the market is not expected to open until 2027. Our advice stays the same in the meantime: choose licensed operators, use deposit limits and self-exclusion tools where available, and treat any site that ignores verification or pushes aggressive bonuses as a warning sign. As Austria’s rules take shape, we will update our coverage of new regulated casinos and what they mean for players.

Sources: SBC News, European Gaming, and the Austrian Ministry of Finance.