Hungarian gambling regulator implements technical rules for market opening
The measures form part of Hungary’s liberalisation of gambling.
Hungary.- The Hungarian Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs (SZTFH) has issued a decree to implement technical requirements for the country’s newly liberalised gambling market. The decree brings in new legislation at the agency level and sets out requirements for operators that want to enter the market.
Operators seeking to gain authorisation from the SZTFH to run online gambling in Hungary must be able to demonstrate at least five years of experience in licensed online gaming in a European Economic Area state. The decree forbids the licensing of any operator that has offered unlicensed gaming in the five years prior to application.
Hungarian gambling licence fees and taxes
The licence fee for Hungarian online gambling licences has been set at HUF600m (€1.57m). All applicants will have to pay an application fee of HUF10m. Operators will also need to pay a supervision fee amounting to 2.5 per cent of gross gambling revenue up to a maximum of HUF10m. Gaming tax has been set at 15 per cent of gross gambling revenue. Operators will also need to have share capital of at least HUF1bn.
Hungary’s state monopoly on gambling came to an end on January 1 under an amendment to the country’s Gambling Act passed in February 2022. The amendment introduces a competitive licence process, with the European Union Court of Justice having ruled that the monopoly system was incompatible with EU law back in 2017. Players are now permitted to have balances with multiple operators.
However, the SZTFH has only issued a licence to the former monopoly Szerencsejáték Zrt, which operates Tippmixpro.hu. Three land-based casinos have permission to provide online casino through a tethered licence. No foreign operators have yet been approved.
The new decree allows early cash outs and introduces a safer gambling feature that requires operators to “expressly draw the player’s attention to the fact that the use of this function entails an increased risk of excessive gambling and addiction.” This information must appear in the same font size as promotional text.
