Italy outlines two-year roadmap to improve online gambling regulations
Customs and Monopolies Agency releases Activity and Organisation plan which focuses on responsible gambling measures and fighting illegal operators
Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has announced plans to further regulate Italy’s online gambling market over the next two years, with a particular focus on responsible gambling measures and combatting the black market.
The ADM published its Activity and Organisation Plan (PIAO) 2025 to 2027, outlining its objectives across several industries including Italy’s online gambling sector.
Following the decision last year to modernise the country’s gambling laws, including raising the operator licence fee to €7m, the ADM outlined in the PIAO that it will contribute to the development of safer gambling measures for both online and land-based gambling.
The agency will also provide technical support for the drafting of legislation and implementation of the guidelines.
The PIAO read: “The agency will continue its efforts to strengthen measures aimed at ensuring full protection of the most vulnerable subjects and preventing gambling disorders and underage gambling, also in collaboration with other authorities responsible for preventing and combating illegal gambling.”
New regulation will also aim to provide operators with the necessary tools and technical support to be compliant within the market.
Correct governance of the online sector, through effective monitoring, will seek to protect players from gambling-related harm and combat illegal operators.
The PIAO report continued: “The corresponding public value indicators measure, in addition to the revenue from the sector, the effects of the fight against illegal gambling, both from unregulated websites and from businesses that attempt to extend the offer of gambling to minors.”
Part of the strategy outlined in the plan also included ensuring controls and supervision in the gambling sector by the number of checks of online gambling platforms.
This will be carried out by the director of the agency (DGIO), who will also look at the number of websites offering illegal gambling.
In relation to anti-money laundering, the PIAO referred to the ‘Games Project’ which aims to “improve the IT tools for managing and controlling the administrative and operational system of the gaming sector, providing advanced technological solutions to strengthen control activities and increase overall management efficiency”.
As part of the country’s 2025 budget, the PIAO outlined potential changes down the line due to a “a very high level of uncertainty at a global level” as well as the effects regulatory proposals will have on the Italian gaming industry.
Under the PIAO, the ADM is defined as exercising the function of the “regulation and control of the gaming sector in Italy, constantly verifying the obligations to which concessionaires and operators in the sector are required and exercising action to combat illegal gambling”.
The news comes before the deadline for Italy’s lottery licence bidding process, which is set to conclude on 17 March.
The ADM has reportedly placed a minimum bid level of €1bn for potential buyers, with sports betting giant Flutter Entertainment rumoured to be one of the frontrunners.