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Hungary’s Gambling Authority Is Being Remade: A Guide to the TISZA Vote

By jili tutorial · October 6, 2026

Hungary’s Gambling Authority Is Being Remade: A Guide to the TISZA Vote

Overview

On Friday, 2 October, Hungary’s National Assembly approved a measure that sharply reduces the powers of the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (SZTFH) and dismantles its Concessions Council. The move, led by the ruling TISZA party, is widely read as the first step toward a broader overhaul of how Hungary awards and supervises gambling licences, privileges and concessions. If the reforms are fully implemented, the SZTFH could lose its remaining influence over casino tenders and concession agreements, with responsibilities moving to institutions directly controlled by the government.

The vote was not close: 135 representatives supported the change, 46 opposed it, and six abstained. TISZA’s commanding two-thirds supermajority allowed the measure to pass without need for cross-party support. For Prime Minister Péter Magyar and Finance Minister András Kármán, the vote is a milestone in a campaign to replace what they describe as an opaque and politically compromised system of gambling oversight.

Key Things to Know

Background: What Is SZTFH?

The Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities was created in 2021 to act as a central regulator for industries that are heavily controlled by the state. Its responsibilities include gambling, tobacco, mining, cybersecurity and other regulated activities. In the gambling field, its role was not to award concessions directly — that power belongs to the government — but to provide prior consent and monitor the process. Over time, however, the agency became a target for criticism. In particular, its handling of gaming concessions during the Fidesz government of Viktor Orbán drew accusations of cronyism and political favouritism.

The TISZA-led government’s interest in SZTFH is not isolated. It is part of a wider examination of state institutions and their accountability. The agency’s wide remit made it an obvious candidate for restructuring, especially as the government argues that key economic and licensing decisions should be made by officials who answer directly to ministers rather than by an independent body.

What Does Bill T/639 Change?

Bill T/639, submitted by the government on 8 September, is the legal instrument behind the parliamentary decision. Its main provisions are:

Concessions are long-term authorisations that allow private operators to run gambling services. These changes are significant because they remove the regulator from the core transactional side of gambling licensing. Once SZTFH is no longer required to approve these steps, the government will have far more flexibility to shape tenders and negotiate terms with casino operators. The assumption is that decisions will be made by ministers, not by regulators with independent statutory duties.

The Parliamentary Vote and What It Signals

The 135–46–6 vote was a clear demonstration of TISZA’s dominance in the National Assembly. The party’s two-thirds supermajority allowed it to pass the measure on its own, with no need for consensus with other parties. The fact that the government chose to move forward despite objections from SZTFH and former officials suggests a determination to push the institutional overhaul through quickly.

Former officials have complained to the media that TISZA is making SZTFH a scapegoat for Hungary’s economic problems. The government’s “breaking corruption” campaign, led by Finance Minister András Kármán, is built around restoring trust in the economy, which has lagged behind all other EU member states since 2023. By targeting an agency associated with past cronyism, TISZA can present itself as cleaning up a system that had allowed political connections to influence licensing. Critics, however, argue that this is a symbolic move that does not address deeper structural problems.

How SZTFH Has Defended Itself

SZTFH has not accepted the government’s characterisation of its role. In a corrective statement issued on the day of the parliamentary vote, the agency stressed that it never had the authority to award concessions directly. That authority, it said, belongs to the designated government. The regulator’s involvement was limited to prior consent and associated oversight.

The agency also pushed back on the broader narrative of institutional failure. It pointed to its enforcement record against illegal online gambling, as well as measures to protect minors in the tobacco market. It reiterated that it is an independent regulatory body accountable to Parliament, not a subordinate branch of the government. Finally, it pledged to cooperate with the government’s legal assessment of its future.

Casino Concessions in the Crosshairs

Much of the scrutiny has centred on casino concessions. The government has ordered an examination of SZTFH’s operations and the legislation under which it operates. That review was set in motion by a resolution published in the Hungarian Gazette on 31 August. Justice Minister Márta Görög was asked to assess how the authority could be abolished and its functions transferred to bodies under direct government control. Her reporting deadline was 30 September.

The specific casino agreements under the microscope include locations in Szeged, Győr, Miskolc, Pécs, Debrecen and Sopron. Some of these contracts run for up to 35 years. The Sopron concession, linked to CAI Hungary Kft., is reported to extend until 2061, a reminder of how long such agreements can tie up local gambling markets.

The government’s interest in these contracts is not purely administrative. If ministers are able to review how concessions were granted, they can use that review to scrutinise the ownership and management structures of the companies involved. The 30-day window for relevant parties to present terms of ownership and management is intended to expose who actually benefits from long-term gaming licences.

Szerencsejáték Zrt: The Big Fish in the Room

Szerencsejáték Zrt, the state-owned lottery and betting company, is the dominant player in Hungary’s gambling market. It is also the company most likely to be affected by any changes to the regulatory landscape. SZTFH came under scrutiny for its handling of Hungary’s online gambling and sports betting reforms in 2022 and 2023.

Those reforms were prompted by a European Court of Justice ruling that Hungary had maintained an online gambling monopoly in favour of Szerencsejáték Zrt. The changes were supposed to create greater competition but failed to attract significant interest from international operators, in part because many believed the terms still favoured the state-owned incumbent.

TISZA has already moved against Szerencsejáték Zrt’s leadership. Over the summer, Finance Minister András Kármán ordered a sweeping board overhaul, promising to remove political influence and cronyism from the company’s management. But replacing the board is one thing; changing the company’s role is another. Szerencsejáték Zrt remains a major source of state income, and its lottery revenues support cultural, arts and heritage projects across Hungary. Any overhaul of the company carries political consequences that go far beyond the betting market.

A Wider Institutional Clean-Out

SZTFH is not the only institution being examined. TISZA has extended its scrutiny to a range of state bodies, including the state media, the defence department, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office and Hungarian Energy. In addition, councils and advisory bodies that report to the Finance Ministry are due for inspection. This broader agenda suggests that the gambling authority is part of a larger effort to centralise control and eliminate independent power centres.

For the gambling sector, the biggest open question is what will replace SZTFH. If the authority is dismantled, its functions must go somewhere. The government has not yet specified how responsibilities would be reallocated, beyond the general objective of moving functions to bodies under direct government control.

What to Watch Next

Several developments will determine the direction of Hungary’s gambling policy:

Timeline of Key Events

The Bottom Line

Hungary’s gambling regulatory framework is being reorganised from the top down. The vote to limit SZTFH’s powers is the clearest sign yet that the TISZA government intends to take direct control of gambling concessions and the institutions that supervise them. Whether this leads to cleaner governance, more competition, or simply a different set of political influences, remains to be seen. For now, the focus is on the review process, the long casino contracts, and the uncertain future of an agency that was created only a few years ago.