How to get a gambling licence in Slovakia: fees and steps

URHH grants every gambling licence (§ 77(9)(a)). For online games the Act offers two stand-alone individual licences under § 35(b), and three combined licences that carry a land-based element. There is no separate B2B or supplier licence.

• Licences are by type, not by game. The internet-casino licence covers slots, table games, live dealer, instant lotteries and card games against other players; the game plan for each game is approved in the licence decision (§ 40(2)).
• The fee in the last column is paid with the application. The Act does not say whether the capital for two licences adds up.
• State-lottery games, including internet ones, are reserved for the national lottery company (§ 3(5), § 30(1)). Horse-race betting in Slovakia is reserved for a state enterprise (§ 45(1)).
• Licences cannot be transferred (§ 36(4)). Land-based casino, machine-hall and bingo licences are land-based and are not covered here.
• Suppliers are not licensed. A person who takes part in running gambling or does necessary work for it under a contract is a supervised person (§ 80(b)) and can be fined; the operator answers for its suppliers (§ 14(15)). What a supplier must build is in the platform section.

Laws that apply

• Zákon č. 30/2019 Z. z. o hazardných hrách (Act No. 30/2019 Coll. on gambling)
• Zákon č. 145/1995 Z. z. o správnych poplatkoch (Act No. 145/1995 Coll. on administrative fees), Annex item 140
• Decrees of the Ministry of Finance No. 134/2019, 142/2019, 437/2019 and 445/2020 (application data, technical requirements, assessment, data to the Office)
• Zákon č. 297/2008 Z. z. (Act No. 297/2008 Coll., AML Act) · Zákon č. 71/1967 Zb. (Administrative Procedure Code)

A licence goes only to a legal person seated in Slovakia or in another EU or EEA state (§ 36(1)). A branch or permanent establishment of a foreign company is not an applicant.

• A Slovak applicant must be a joint-stock company or a limited-liability company with a supervisory board. Foreign owners of a Slovak company must be seated or resident in the EU, the EEA or an OECD member (§ 36(1)).
• A company from another EU or EEA state must first be entered by URHH in the list of foreign representations (§ 49(1)), before it files. The representation communicates with URHH in Slovak, and its head must be a Slovak citizen with a second-degree university degree in law or economics (§ 49(3), (7)). The licence is withdrawn if the representation is struck off (§ 91(2)).
• A company seated outside the EU and the EEA cannot hold a licence. Its route is a Slovak company or a company in another Member State.
• The application names a professionally qualified natural person on the statutory body who runs the gambling (§ 50(1)(g)). For an internet-casino licence the test is a university degree plus at least three years in gambling, or secondary education plus ten years, three of them in management (§ 61(2)).
• The applicant, its statutory body, the responsible person and every company in its group must be of good repute and must not have been on the prohibited-offers list in the previous 12 months. Tax, social and health insurance arrears must be nil (§ 39(2)).
• Share capital must be fully paid in money by the day of filing and its lawful origin proven (§ 54(2), § 50(3)). No separate Slovak premises are required for an online licence, and no Slovak bank account is required of the operator.

There is no annual licence fee. The up-front cost is a fixed fee for the grant, a cash guarantee held by URHH and the paid-up share capital; the recurring cost is a revenue-based levy and a monthly contribution.

• The guarantee and the capital are committed funds, not spent costs. The guarantee is a cash deposit paid into a separate URHH account, earns no interest and may not come from loans or other borrowed money (§ 67(4)). It can be released after the licence ends once all liabilities are settled (§ 67(5)).
• A change to a licence, such as a new web address, costs EUR 1,000 (item 140(c)). Fees depend on the licence type, not on the number of games or brands.
• Not counted: the testing body's charges for assessing the platform (the bodies set their own prices) and the cost of renewing certificates.
• Recurring: a levy of 30% of the result (stakes less winnings) on every online licence, paid monthly (§ 71, § 72(2)); in online betting the result used for the levy is not below 11% of winnings paid in the month. The rate was 27% before 1 December 2025. A monthly contribution of 0.7% finances URHH (§ 78).

URHH receives and decides the application (§ 39(1)). It is in Slovak, with officially certified translations of foreign documents, and carries proof of payment of the administrative fee (§ 48(1), § 50(2)(l)).

• The file holds company documents, ownership and management data, a three-year business and financial plan (§ 50(2)(e)), good-repute evidence including criminal-record extracts not older than three months, the game plan and operating rules, the responsible-gambling statement, the certificate from an authorised testing body and tax and insurance clearances.
• For internet casino and internet betting the application also gives the .sk web address, the player registration and account terms (§ 64, § 65).
• URHH decides within 30 working days of a complete application (§ 40(1)). If the file is incomplete it calls for completion within 15 working days of receipt, with a deadline of at least 10 working days, or stops the proceedings (§ 53(1)). The Act gives no typical timeline beyond this.
• Refusal follows if a condition in § 39(2) is not met, if the foreign representation is not entered, if the assessment certificate is missing, or if the address is not a .sk address. A first-instance decision can be appealed to the Office Council within 15 days of notification (Act 71/1967, § 54).
• After the grant, a company not yet in the commercial register must file for entry within 90 days of the decision and may not start before it is registered (§ 36(3)). A registered company files for entry of the permitted activity within ten days of the decision becoming final (§ 41).
• The Act prescribes no electronic filing channel and URHH publishes no licence-application template. Confirm the current form with URHH before filing.

Only systems assessed by an authorised testing body, with a valid certificate, may be used (§ 14(3)). The assessment comes before filing and its certificate is an annex to the application (§ 86(4), § 50(2)(n)).

• Two testing bodies are authorised as of 6 November 2026: Technický skúšobný ústav Piešťany, a. s. (Slovakia) and Elektrotechnický zkušební ústav, s. p. (Prague). A certificate issued abroad does not replace the assessment (Decree 437/2019, § 6(2)(g)).
• The binding technical standard is Decree 142/2019. For internet casino games the assessment names each game, its version, manufacturer, RTP range and maximum stake and win (Decree 437/2019, § 6(1)). Betting and table-game software is assessed as software and program versions.
• The operator's server must stand on the territory of Slovakia (§ 14(22)), holding the data of all games and the player accounts with deposits and withdrawals. URHH has free, permanent online access to it under Decree 445/2020 (§ 14(21)).
• The game may run only on the web address with the suffix .sk named in the licence decision, whether reached through a browser or an app, and one licence names one site (§ 30(7)). A new address needs a prior request to change the licence (§ 40(5)).
• Data goes to URHH daily: a 24-hour data package through its application interface (Decree 445/2020, § 5) and the bets and wins of each calendar day (§ 74(3)). The operator must notify its technical data at least 30 calendar days before the first access.
• The platform queries the register of excluded persons (RVO) at every player login (§ 33(2)). No geolocation control is imposed on the licensee. Cloud hosting is not prohibited by name, but the server must stay in Slovakia.

The levy is 30% of the result on every online licence, and the monthly contribution to URHH is 0.7%. A gambling operator is an obliged person under the AML Act.

• The levy statement and the contribution statement are filed monthly and paid by the 25th day after month-end (§ 72(2), § 78(6)). Annual accounts go to the register of financial statements by 31 May (§ 74(2)).
• Customer due diligence applies at every transaction of at least EUR 2,000 in gambling, single or linked, and unusual transactions go to the Financial Intelligence Unit without undue delay. Records are kept for five years (Act 297/2008, § 5(1)(d), § 10, § 17, § 19).
• The programme names a person responsible for AML tasks, who need not be resident in Slovakia (§ 20(2)(h)).
• Player winnings from a licensed operator are exempt from income tax, with no threshold.

The route to a live online operation, in filing order.

1. 01

   Choose the applicant

   § 36 · § 49

   A Slovak joint-stock or limited-liability company, or a company seated in another EU or EEA state. The second must first be entered in the list of foreign representations.

2. 02

   Pay in the share capital

   § 54 · EUR 1,700,000

   Fully paid in money by the day of filing, with proof of its lawful origin.

3. 03

   Certify the platform

   § 86(4)

   An authorised testing body assesses the system, the games and the software. The certificate goes in with the application.

4. 04

   File with URHH and pay the fee

   Item 140(a) · 30 working days

   File in Slovak with certified translations and proof of the EUR 3,000,000 fee (EUR 5,000,000 for both licences). URHH decides within 30 working days of a complete file.

5. 05

   Fund the guarantee

   § 67 · § 69 · EUR 750,000

   A cash deposit in the separate URHH account, not borrowed money. EUR 1,250,000 where one operator holds both licences.

6. 06

   Set up the server and the .sk address

   § 14(22) · § 30(7)

   Server in Slovakia with online access for URHH, one .sk web address named in the licence decision.

7. 07

   Connect and go live

   Decree 445/2020 · § 33(2)

   Notify the technical data 30 calendar days before first access, deliver the daily data package, query the register of excluded persons at each login, and file the monthly levy and contribution statements.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 6 Nov 2026.