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Regulator: Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos
Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) is Portugal's national gambling regulator, operating under the Turismo de Portugal structure. It is responsible for licensing and supervising both land-based casinos (under Lei do Jogo/DL 422/89) and the online marketplace (under RJO/DL 66/2015), as well as inspections, compliance, advertising control and player protection.
1) Role and mandate of SRIJ
Licensing and concessions. Issues and extends land concessions to casinos in established "play areas"; licenses online casino/betting, poker, etc.
Supervision and inspections. Conducts scheduled and unscheduled inspections of sites and online operators, audits of KYC/AML procedures, checks the calculations of winnings, cash transactions and jackpots.
Certification and technical control. Approves game types, RNG/content provider requirements, reporting APIs, event logs, and monitoring systems.
Advertising and communications. Monitors compliance with commercial gambling reporting rules, including age barriers and communication tones.
Responsible play (RG). Requires operators of self-exclusion mechanisms, deposit/time limits, "reality checks," visible warnings and access to assistance.
Fiscal contour. Accompanies accounting and transfer of taxes/fees, verifies betting/winning aggregates, monitors the correctness of reporting.
Fighting illegal online. Initiates blocking, maintains a register of unlicensed sites/mirrors, interacts with law enforcement agencies and payment providers.
2) Structure and interactions
Turismo de Portugal → SRIJ. Policy and strategy - at the Tourism Board level; operational oversight and enforcement - at SRIJ.
Coordination with other departments. Finmonitoring (AML), data protection, consumer regulators, local municipalities (by "land"), advertising regulators.
International cooperation. Exchange of practices with European colleagues, participation in working groups on the illegal market, advertising and RG.
3) Ground segment: what SRIJ controls
Play areas and concessions. Competitive procedures, investment commitments, requirements for halls, opening hours and non-gaming services (F&B, show, MICE).
Operational protocols. Table and slot regulations, cash register/jackpot control, video surveillance, log storage, dispute resolution procedures.
Personnel standards. Admission and training of personnel, responsible positions (compliance officer), tests for knowledge of RG protocols and security.
ESG and tourism integration. Attention to environmental regulations, noise/traffic, accessible environment; interaction with the city and Turofis.
4) Online market: licenses and technical requirements
Product licenses. Separately for bets (odds/pools), casino games, poker, etc.; combinations within the same group are possible.
Payment circuit and KYC/AML. Hard identification (age/personality), verification of the source of funds at thresholds, sanction and geo-filters, transaction logs.
Reporting and API. Uniform download formats for bets/winnings, game events, balances, transactions; integration for remote monitoring.
Content providers. Game engines and RNGs are certified only; operations with fault tolerance, logs and reproducibility of calculations.
Player protection. Limits, timeouts, game history with a net result, noticeable RG banners and "reality checks" in the interface.
5) Advertising and communication: basic principles
18 + and lack of "heroization." A ban on promises of easy money, appeals to social success, appeals to a youth audience.
Formats and frequency. Media/time slot restrictions, strict frequency control, prohibition of intrusive practices; transparent content priority.
Influencers and club media. Only adult audiences, disclaimers, neutral tone; both the operator and the site are responsible.
6) Sanctions and enforcement
Administrative measures. Prescriptions, fines, suspension of activities for individual products/campaigns.
Criminal plane. For severe violations - interaction with law enforcement agencies.
Blacklists and locks. Procedures for adding/excluding domains, working with payment systems to curb turnover.
7) Transparency, reporting and complaints
Consolidated registries. Publication of valid licenses/concessions, list of certified games/providers.
Market statistics. Turnovers, winnings, taxes, RG metrics - aggregated with the protection of personal data.
Referral mechanisms. Receiving complaints from players and operators, terms of consideration, escalation procedure and explanatory reports.
8) What matters to business: operator checklist
1. License/concession. Check the scope of permits, terms, areas of activity.
2. Technical certification. RNG/game certificates, registry protocols, SLA reports, logs for "replayer" calculations.
3. KYC/AML. Full set of procedures, SoF/SoW thresholds, sanction lists, anomaly monitoring, team training.
4. RG design. Limits/timeouts "in 1-2 clicks," visible warnings, game history with a net result, access to help.
5. Advertising. Legal screening of creatives, age targeting, frequency control, register of approvals.
6. Incidents and complaints. Response SLAs, communication templates, returns/recalculation policies.
7. Reporting and taxes. Accuracy of uploads, reconciliation of bet/win aggregates, transparency of tax/fee calculations.
9) What matters to cities and autonomies (for "land")
Collaborative planning. Map of seasonality, events and transport load; rules of silence and flow of guests.
Non-gaming economy. Stable evening employment through gastronomy, shows and MICE reduces dependence on purely gaming revenue.
RG and reputation. Multilingual guest onboarding, partnership with NGOs, transparent feedback channels.
10) Trends and challenges 2025-2030
Channeling traffic to the "white" segment. The fight against illegal sites, the development of quick legal payments.
Privacy and data. Personal data personalization and protection balance, algorithms audit.
New formats. Discussions around loot boxes, fantasy models and e-sports - while maintaining rigid RG frameworks.
Surveillance technologies. API monitoring, automation of checks, risk-based supervision with priority for high-risk zones.
SRIJ is the core of the Portuguese model of "honest and responsible" gambling. It combines tight supervision, transparent licenses, a secure technical circuit and a strong RG policy - online and on the ground. For operators, this means a high bar for compliance and product quality; for cities and the tourism industry, predictability, security and a sustainable entertainment economy.