The Italian Budget Law 2023 extends gambling licences to the end of 2024

Last December 29^th, the Italian Parliament gave final approval to the Budget Law 2023 (Law No. 197 of Dec. 29, 2022), covering the three-year period 2023-2025. 
 
Among the many measures approved is the extension of the licences for:  
 
(a) online gambling;   
(b) bingo;   
(c) gaming machines (VLTs and AWPs);   
(d) bets on sports events, including horse racing, and non-sports events, including virtual events 
 
which are now all extended until Dec. 31, 2024, pending the overall reorganisation of the gambling regulations scheduled for 2023. 
 
The extension, long awaited by the industry, is intended to allow for the reorganisation of the gambling licensing system without interrupting the cash flow guaranteed to the state by the licences.   
 
The Budget Law (Art. 1, paragraphs 123-125) also provides for a surcharge owed by concessionaires for maintaining the licences in 2023 and 2024 (equal to 15% compared to the current one, in proportion to the extension of the licence) and deadlines for the payment of the related fees (differentiated by year and by type of concession).   
 
Finally, the Budget Law envisages that ADM will establish by directorial decree the procedures for supplementing the financial guarantees provided by operators as a result of the increased licence fees. This decree is expected to be published in early 2023.  
  
It is evident how the regulation of gambling is constantly evolving, considering the recent entry into force of the "Regulation concerning the regulation of fixed-odds betting on sporting events other than horse racing and on non-sporting events" of August 1, 2022, which repealed and replaced (as early as 2022) the previous measures provided for in the Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance of March 1, 2006, No. 111.