Despite increasing gambling revenues, the state lacks a comprehensive policy in this area. Prevention of gambling addiction and protection of vulnerable groups—such as minors or pathological gamblers—is insufficient. The Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic (SAO) points out that the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) imposed over 600 fines between 2019 and 2025 for violations of the Gambling Act, but in more than 900 additional cases the opportunity to impose sanctions was lost due to the Office’s inaction lasting over two years. One contributing factor was that, until 2024, only one employee was assigned to manage sanction proceedings. “The gambling regulator had no internal procedures in place governing the imposition of fines or the revocation of licences. It is therefore unclear why some operators received fines of several thousand euros, while others avoided sanctions altogether due to the Office’s inactivity,” said Ľubomír Andrassy, President of the SAO, summarising the audit findings. In line with the government’s policy statement, the national audit authority recommends that the Ministry of Finance develop a strategy for national gambling policy and prepare an amendment to the Gambling Act to address identified implementation issues.

The GRA was established in June 2019 to centralise all gambling-related activities. Prior to that, responsibilities were split among the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Directorate, tax offices, and partially local authorities. The establishment of the Office was not preceded by a dedicated impact analysis. Through information sharing with other European audit institutions, the SAO found that 13 EU countries have independent gambling regulators. Since its creation, the GRA has secured higher revenues for the state budget and handled a greater volume of tasks related to administrative proceedings and on-site inspections. However, despite growing workload and responsibilities, the Office operates with significantly fewer staff than the institutions previously responsible for gambling regulation. Out of the original 114 employees from the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Directorate and tax offices—who handled licensing, levy collection, supervision, inspections, and sanctioning—only 67 staff positions remain. Between 2018 and 2024, gambling levies brought €1.8 billion into the state budget. Administrative fees for individual licences amounted to €96 million in the same period. Despite a notable decrease, local government income from gambling still reached €113 million during this timeframe. Importantly, the audit found no instances of levy-related debts being written off due to the statute of limitations—an example of good practice in debt management.

Regarding individual licences, the national audit authority identified problematic applications of the Gambling Act. Under current legislation, municipalities may adopt a binding regulation prohibiting the placement of gambling establishments within their territory. However, if such regulation is not reported to the GRA within five days, it is disregarded during the licence approval process. “This unreasonably short statutory period was problematic in some cases. A regulation banning gambling venues may have been legally in force, but if the five-day deadline was missed, a new gambling venue was often established for up to five years,” explained President Andrassy. According to the auditors, this is a disproportionate consequence of failing to meet the deadline and undermines the legitimate public interest expressed by the local authority—highlighting a flaw in national legislation.

President Andrassy also emphasised the issue of gambling addiction and the broader societal impacts of pathological gambling. In this context, the SAO SR plans to carry out a dedicated audit focusing on addiction treatment and related consequences. “Real-life experience shows that good intentions of local governments or civic activists to shut down physical gambling venues in order to reduce risk are not fully effective. Gambling has simply moved into the player’s living room, where anonymity is greater and public oversight is absent,” he noted. This, he added, is a challenge for responsible public institutions to tighten legislation and strengthen regulation of online gambling. “Citizen efforts may succeed in closing a gambling venue, but that alone does not mean we have addressed the impacts of gambling on individuals, their families, or society as a whole,” Andrassy concluded.