ADM gives owners one year to complete procedures for retired AWPs

Italy's ADM has changed the rules for retired AWP gaming machines under a determination dated 27 October 2026 (no. 683005/RU) signed by central director Mario Lollobrigida. Owners will have one year instead of six months to complete the required procedures on machines withdrawn from the market, and declaration and tracking duties will focus on game boards alone. The changes apply to machines retired from 1 November 2026.

The measure amends two 2018 acts: decree no. 38169/RU of 30 March, which sets the mandatory procedures for disposal, destruction and other permitted activities, and implementing determination no. 72041/RU of 30 April. In both texts the reference to "6 mesi" is replaced by "1 anno".

The ADM based the change partly on the market, observing that in the last two years there has been a lower frequency of replacement of amusement machines with cash winnings. If machines are replaced less often, finding a new location for retired ones also takes longer, according to that assessment.

On declarations, the ADM said checks over the years showed the risk of unlawful use arose exclusively in relation to the game boards of retired machines, which can be fitted in parallel inside regular machines. The agency cited the case of slots with a double board and unpaid Preu on which the Cassazione has ruled. It therefore kept close control on boards and eased requirements for cabinets, the slot furniture without the electronic gaming component.

In practice, the declaration of location and communications on movements will concern only boards; a board movement may be reported within seven days rather than the same day; the obligation to declare the position and movements of cabinets in detail is dropped; and documents proving disposal, destruction, transfers or sales must still be kept for five years. The ADM said the aim is to simplify declaration duties on owners.

The first phase of a technical round table between Astro, the ADM and Sogei on AWPs closed in recent months, and the sector is currently watching the 2027 budget law and its possible effects on the levy on slots.