The European Commission (EC) has given the go ahead to Italy to sign into law the proposed changes to its online bingo regulations.
The long-awaited changes allow licensed dot.it bingo operators to offer players an increased range of game varieties and jackpots. There will also be a new minimum ticket price introduced of €1c per game, with the maximum price set at €10.
The new changes have been approved today, with the close of the statutory standstill period that had been set aside for review of the draft by the Commission and other EU Member States. The Italian government is now therefore allowed to pass the regulations into law.
Taxes and fees for online bingo companies remain the same with no new changes made to the current laws. Italian online bingo operators will still need to pay 11% turnover tax, 1% Sogei fee and offer players an RTP of at least 70% on their games. Although seemingly quite a high demand, this is still lower than the requirements set for land-based operators in Italy where bingo halls need to pay a 20% turnover tax and 3.8% Sogei fee, in addition to ensuring that 58% of player stakes are returned.
The European Commission’s approval of the changes to Italy’s online bingo regulations mean that online bingo has gone through the same process as betting exchanges did earlier this year. Italy received the green light from the EC to pass legislation to regulate betting exchanges at the end of May, enabling companies such as Betfair to apply for operation rights and Microgame to launch its People’s IBEX platform offering Italian customers fixed-odds betting, horse-race betting, skill games and poker.
It is hoped that the new regulations for online bingo in Italy will help to bolster the falling interest in this market, where revenues have seen a drop of 34% over the last year, by providing licensed dot.it bingo operators with greater flexibility.
