ADM, The Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency regulates gambling in Italy. It has confirmed the implementation of new rules for bonus management from June 1. The new legislative criteria introduce changes on several fronts. These include the use of bonuses, terms and conditions, and payment methods. Additionally, the criteria will affect how bonuses are counted for tax purposes.
Since the launch of the regulated market in 2006, operators have been requesting changes. This is because of the lack of clarity over the methodology to calculate the cost of bonus rewards. Tax calculations will now include both the bonus applied and any stake placed by the player. This will compute the amounts wagered and the winnings paid out.
For now, the ADM is introducing a process to address palpable errors, allowing systematic corrections without legal action. Bookmakers have called for this change due to debates with customers.
Bookmakers can now submit requests for the correction of palpable errors through a regulated application system. Details of the challenged odds will need to be provided. If approved, the request will lead to odds being recalculated according to the market average. This average will use the national tote as a guide.
The Italian government published the new framework for Italian online gambling licenses in the parliamentary gazette a few months ago. By the end of the year, authorities will grant new nine-year online gambling concessions. Each license will have a fee of €7 million.
Introduced in 2018, the license fee is 35 times that of the €200,000 fee. Operators will also pay 3 per cent of annual GGR or gross gaming revenue after taxes. The Ministry of Finance argued that the hike was justified due to changing market dynamics. A limited number of large operators dominate the market, particularly SNAI, Lottomatica (which acquired SKS365), Flutter, and Entain.
