Portugal’s regulated online gambling market has failed to achieve its goal of channeling local punters away from unauthorized operators, according to a new report.

On Tuesday, the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) released the findings of a Eurogroup Consulting report the RGA commissioned to determine how Portugal’s regulated online market was faring since the first locally licensed site launched in June 2016.

When Portugal approved its online gambling legislation in February 2015, the government hoped to reap an annual €25m in new revenue. The market’s Q3 report showed the state’s share of online proceeds had hit €24.5m with three months left to go in the year, so chalk that one up in the ‘win’ column.

However, while the market’s punitive tax regime has the government sitting pretty, it’s also kept operator interest to a minimum, with only seven companies having secured licenses to date. And these operators are forced to pass on some of their costs to local punters, with – at least, as far as the RGA is concerned – predictable results.