The Senate Finance Commission expressed a favorable opinion with conditions and observations on the draft legislative decree on the reorganization of online gaming proposed following some modifications by the rapporteur, concluding the examination process.
Undersecretary Federico Freni (in the photo), representative of the Government, took the floor to clarify some considerations made by the opposition groups in presenting their respective opinions regarding the choice to reorganize the gaming sector with two separate measures. After having stated that the tenders for online gaming have expired some time ago and that Italy is at risk of a European infringement procedure, he explained that the Government has chosen to divide the reorganization of public games into two draft decrees for purely economical, since, with the reorganization of online games, the related tenders could have been announced in the meantime on prices with current values, therefore higher than in the past. On the contrary, as regards physical gaming, the reorganization could take at least six months, also taking into account the necessary agreement at the State-Regions and Autonomous Provinces Conference, so the relevant draft decree was designed for a later date.
As for the second condition of the rapporteur's draft opinion, he pointed out that the expiry of the concession for the "scratch cards" is scheduled for 2028, therefore he clarifies from now on that the wording "without delay" is to be understood in relation to the expiry natural nature of the concession and not with respect to the date of entry into force of the scheme in question.
THE OPINION OF THE COMMISSION
The 6th Finance and Treasury Commission, having examined the draft legislative decree containing provisions relating to the reorganization of the gaming sector, starting from remote gaming, pursuant to article 15 of law 9 August 2023, n. 111;
- having identified the opportunity to guarantee certainty regarding the correct identification of the player, in order to protect minors, to give concrete implementation to the principle of the development of safe gaming, aimed at ensuring the protection of the player both from the point of view of health, both from that of public order and security with respect to criminal phenomena, as well as ensuring full control of the gaming network, through the strengthening of legal gaming, the fight against money laundering, the traceability of financial flows and the protection of faith, public order and security;
- considered that one of the primary objectives of the aforementioned legislative decree consists in the restart of the tender procedures for an effectively competitive and competitive attribution of state concessions for the management of remote gaming collections;
- also considered, in this regard, that
among the forms of remote gaming collection there is also that concerning the game of Lotto automated and other fixed-odds numerical games, the concession for which expires in November 2025;
the re-allocation with tender of the concession of lotto and consequent commissioning, involves a complex procedure whose duration can reach eighteen months, which is why it is more appropriate than ever for it to be started with a specific regulation to be included in the draft decree in question; - also taking into account that tax liability is one of the prerequisites for the protection of public finances and that it is therefore appropriate to limit the hypotheses of exclusion of said liability, ensuring it in cases in which the production of damage resulting from the conduct of the agent is to be he maliciously wanted;
- finally deemed it appropriate that the increased revenues deriving from the application of this legislative decree flow into the fund for the implementation of the fiscal delegation;
expresses a favorable opinion, with the following conditions:
- the Government ensures that the legislative decree in question introduces a specific provision which provides for the start without delay by the Customs and Monopolies Agency of the assignment procedure, in compliance with European and national principles and rules, of the management of the service , in its various forms, even at a distance, of the game of Lotto automated and other fixed-odds numerical games, providing among other things:
1.1. a concession duration of nine years, non-renewable;
1.2. a selection based on the criterion of the most economically advantageous offer and, as regards the price component, an auction base, for upward offers, equal to at least 1 billion euros;
1.3. the possible payment of the price indicated in the offer of the competitor who came first in the ranking, even in several installments, anchored primarily at the time of the award and at that of the actual assumption of the gaming service by the winning bidder;
1.4. the possible inclusion of clauses, in the tender notice, also regarding the size of the concessionaire's premium;
1.5. the possible provision, in the tender notice, of any other useful clause also making reference to those already used in the last tender on the subject; - the Government ensures that the legislative decree in question introduces a specific provision which provides for the start without delay by the Customs and Monopolies Agency of the award procedure, in compliance with European and national principles and rules, of the management of the service , in its various forms, even remotely, of the "scratch card" game.
And with the following observations:
does the Government consider the opportunity to: - foresee the introduction of the CD game mode. “shared liquidity” (or also “international liquidity”) with a regulatory source in order to enhance the gaming offer in Italy, with particular reference to the game of online poker;
- provide for the use of the identity card, driving license and passport, as certain tools for identifying the player both for the remote network and for the physical network, for better control of the gaming network, and in particular, provide for that the use of these identification tools is contemplated in the regulation of remote gaming;
- reformulate letter d) of paragraph 6, of article 6, in order to correctly frame the concept of gaming APP not to be understood as a tool that can be activated on the concessionaire's website, but rather as a tool for access, through mobile devices, to the different typologies gaming products that are part of the concessionaire's portfolio;
- in article 6, paragraph 5, letter p) provide for a remodulation of the one-off fee currently expected at 7 million euros, in order to guarantee greater market competition and possible greater revenue effects for the State, also guaranteeing the economic-financial balance of the concession contract with the possibility of increasing the annual concession fee equal to 3 percent of the concessionaire's net margin referred to in article 6, paragraph 6, letter n);
- with reference to article 13, paragraph 2, reduce the annual amount of registration in the register of charging points of sale, apparently excessively onerous, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the charging point of sale activity, taking into consideration the data relating to the current average volumes of top-ups made through this channel and the related revenues of the merchants;
- modify in article 13, paragraph 5, the weekly limit of top-ups that can be carried out by operators of top-up sales outlets, currently set at 100 euros, increasing it up to 200 euros in consideration of the fact that the current wording appears to be in conflict with the current one European and internal regulations;
- modify the last sentence of article 20, in order to limit the exclusion of tax liability for the adoption of the variation measures provided for by the aforementioned article, as regards their financial effects, only to cases of gross negligence;
- amend article 25 in order to provide that all the additional revenues deriving from the application of the provisions of this legislative decree flow into the fund for the implementation of the fiscal delegation, established in the estimate of the Ministry of Economy and finances from article 22, paragraph 3, second sentence, of law 9 August 2023, n. 111;
- include in the concessions the opportunity to limit gaming in certain time slots;
- speed up the preparation time of the draft legislative decree relating to the collection of bets on the physical network.
Below is the full report of the meeting in the Finance Commission:
