Legislation
Italy – Italian legislators to crack down on illegal gambling websites
By Phil - 10 August 2020
The Italian government is piecing together a new legislative decree to make it tougher for illegal online gambling providers to access the Italian market.
According to Article 76 of the “August Decree” (Decreto Agosto), telecommunications service providers and Internet providers will be legally obliged to block websites with illegal or ‘harmful’ content in the future, including gambling websites of operators who do not have an Italian license, or platforms on which both regulated and unregulated games are made available.
The decree will be adopted before the national holiday on August 15 and published in the national gazette with the orders to block gambling websites being initiated by the Italian Customs Administration (AGM).
Companies could face a fine of between €30,000 and €180,000 if they fail to block such sites. The land-based gaming sector will see a new tax rate for amusement machines which will be set within nine months of coming into force. This will include machines paying out in vouchers, pinball machines and video game machines. Rules on the technical manufacture of the devices, their administrative regulation and their maximum number of permitted machines per location will all be amended.
