A new draft law filed in Piedmont by regional councillor Pasquale Coluccio (Movimento 5 Stelle) proposes amending the region’s current anti-GAP framework to “return” to a stricter, 2016-style approach to retail machine placement and enforcement. The proposal (dated 26 January 2026) has already been assigned for joint examination across multiple regional commissions as of 30 January 2026, signalling that the initiative is moving into the legislative workflow (though it remains a proposal, not enacted law).
For operators and route businesses, the core operational impact is the redefinition of the “distanziometro” for AWP-style machines (art. 110(6) TULPS). The draft would prohibit installation within 300 metres (municipalities up to 5,000 residents) or 500 metres (over 5,000 residents), measured by the shortest pedestrian route, from a detailed list of “sensitive places” including schools, training centres, places of worship, sports facilities, hospitals/health structures, youth aggregation sites/oratories, banks/ATMs, gold-buying shops, and transport nodes such as “movicentro” and railway stations.
The text also bans obscuring storefront windows (films, curtains, posters, or similar) where machines are installed and allows municipalities to designate additional sensitive sites based on urban-security, traffic, noise, and public peace criteria.
Enforcement would tighten via administrative fines of €2,000–€6,000 per machine, plus temporary closure of the venue for 5–10 days. Compliance timelines are set at 18 months for “generalist” premises and 3 years for gaming and betting halls, with a possible municipal extension up to 5 years in narrow cases (e.g., the only food retail or the only food-and-beverage venue in a municipality). Additional transitional clauses address “supervening” conflicts after initial compliance.
Strategic context: the 2021 reform kept 300 metres for smaller towns but reduced the large-municipality threshold from 500 to 400 metres—a change this bill would effectively roll back, increasing relocation and de-installation risk in denser areas.
