Portugal's Gambling Regulator Seeks Feedback on Online Gaming Rules

14 October 2026

Portugal's gambling regulator has initiated a public consultation to review key rules governing online gaming and sports betting. The Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) is soliciting input on the technical and operational standards for online slot machines and fixed-odds sports betting. Operators, tech providers and industry stakeholders have 20 business days from 27 January 2024 to share their views on proposed revisions.

The targeted regulations are Regulation No. 828/2015, which sets out the technical and operational requirements for online slot machines, and Regulation No. 903-A/2015, which governs online fixed-odds sports betting. The SRIJ is seeking to provide greater clarity on the execution, implementation and operational compliance of these crucial standards.

For online gambling operators in Portugal

The consultation has important implications. Under current laws, only entities licensed by the SRIJ are permitted to offer online games and sports wagering. Advertising must be socially responsible, safeguarding minors and vulnerable groups while avoiding any implication of easy wins, social success or encouragement of excessive behaviour. A 2023 study by Chambers found that popular and social media are already seeing stricter ad limits for gaming.

The consultation is a key step in refining Portugal's regulatory regime for online gambling, which is fundamentally based on the Regime Jurídico do Jogo Online (RJO) as laid out in the April 2015 DL 66/2015. The SRIJ, Turismo de Portugal's gambling regulatory division, works in tandem with the Direção-Geral de Consumidores (DGC) and Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (ERC) to monitor advertising and crack down on unlicensed operators. To that end, Portugal has adopted technology from the French firm Sharp Vision to bolster supervision of the illegal market.

This serves as a clarion call for operators to "get involved" in shaping the future of a tightly regulated national market. While the consultation is dressed up as an open public dialogue, it's not a true departue from the SRIJ's typically closeted rulemaking process. And while the reported target for the revised rules is mid-2024, such timeframes are notoriously unreliable. Operators should be wary of treating this as anything other than yet another engagement in the SRIJ's ongoing quest to box them into a go-nowhere conversation.