Italian budget bill proposes anonymous collection of instant lottery prizes below €3,000
Regulation1 min read
Italy’s 2027 budget bill would allow instant receipt-lottery prizes below €3,000 to be paid on presentation of the winning ticket without identifying the recipient. An opinion column contrasts the proposal with rules requiring identification and transaction records for cash or other restricted-value deposits through online gambling recharge points, while noting that the activities have different purposes.
Instant receipt-lottery prizes below €3,000 could be paid upon presentation of the winning ticket without identifying the winner under Italy's budget bill, an opinion column on an Italian gambling industry site said.
Article 31 of the bill would authorise ADM to open bank or postal accounts to pay instant prizes. The lottery's system has had difficulty in many cases matching the holder of a winning ticket with the prize recipient where their names had to match.
The Court of Auditors said at a hearing on the 2027 budget that the simplification could make prizes easier to collect but would weaken payment traceability and require safeguards to verify entitlement.
The columnist contrasted the proposal with rules for online gambling recharge points, which require account holders to be identified and transactions recorded regardless of amount. The rules impose a combined €100 weekly limit on cash recharges and those using payment methods not exempt from the limit.
The columnist noted that the activities have different purposes: recharge points fund remote gambling accounts, while the lottery is a tax incentive. The Council of State identified health protection and gambling addiction prevention as the main reasons for the recharge-point limit in ruling No. 7220 on 30 September, distinguishing them from anti-money-laundering aims.