Italian court orders igaming licence extensions

An administrative court in Rome has taken the side of gaming operators in their appeals for licence extensions.

Italy.- The Lazio TAR Administrative Court has found in favour of several foreign igaming operators in their separate appeals against the ADM Customs and Monopolies Agency.

Betway, Sportpesa, Nexigames and Snaitech launched appeals against the regulator after it ordered them to suspend operations due to their licences expiring at the end of October.

Italy’s Senate has twice refused to review online gambling extensions for sports betting, casino and bingo until Autumn 2022 as it plans to reform market conditions. That decision left 30 incumbent operators in limbo since their existing licences expired on October 30 this year.

ADM has issued operators with a notice ordering them to comply and “turn-off” online gambling services and provided no assurances that operators would be able to apply for extensions on their current licences ahead of the Senate’s reviews in 2022.

After reviewing the separate appeals submitted, the TAR court has now ordered the ADM to ensure that each operator receives an immediate minimum one-year extension until October 2021.

Its judgement found that licensees had been denied their right to request licensing extensions irrespective of government plans for reform.

The court also said that the government must guarantee that all conditions for online gambling concessions are clear ahead of its next Budget Law which is to be signed off by parliament by the end of December.

Italian online gaming revenue increased by 25.4 per cent year-on-year in September.