Colombia prepares to cut off unlicensed operators

Colombian gambling authority, ColJuegos, is preparing to block around 300 unlicensed operators from operating in the market.

Despite much interest, no operators have chosen to formalize their operations yet, ColJuegos told Colombian publication Semana, prompting the authority to request the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communication, along with law enforcement, begin the process of blocking access to the market.

“We are the first country in Latin America to regulate gambling, and we did it by reviewing not only legislation in Spain, France and the UK, the most advanced regulatory regimes in the industry, but also by assessing other technical elements and game trends.

“This [licensing] will allow us to obtain more resources for health and ensure that Colombians who use these operators are assured that they will not be taken advantage of and that operators will honor their premiums,” Juan Pérez Hildago, president of Coljuegos, commented.

A survey undertaken by the National Consulting Centre reported Colombians risk as much as COP 14,000 per daily capita (Euro 4.40) to which ColJuegos estimates the country loses taxes on COP 350 billion (Euro 109 million) per annum, funds that it says would directly benefit the Colombian health system.

Operators interested in entering the Colombian market need to comply with the authority’s financial, technical and technological requirements, guarantee the payment of prizes and the corresponding taxes for a license fee of around COP 600 million (Euro 188,000).

The list of unlicensed operators plying their services in the market was published by Semana, many of whom are well-known, prominent players in the industry: http://static.iris.net.co/semana/upload/documents/paginas-web-ilegales.pdf

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