Online gambling banned in Uruguay

After mulling the legalisation of online gambling in 2011 and 2013 the Uruguayan government has decided to ban the genre, according to a budget law signed off by national president Tabaré Vázquez earlier this week.

The legislation makes clear that online poker and casino activity is “absolutely prohibited” and empowers enforcement agencies to “adopt preventative and punitive measures to prevent the proliferation of commercial activities of internet gaming.”

The ban extends to any online sports betting not offered by the monopoly La Banca de Quinielas national lottery.

Law 19.535 clarifies that online gambling – except for lotteries and betting on horse races through La Banca de Quinielas – is prohibited in Uruguay. Where this leaves the Hipódromo Nacional de Maroñas in Montevideo, which was also given permission to accept bets online in 2002, is not yet clear.

The ban did not come as a surprise to industry observers; in July this year a prominent Uruguayan tax advisor revealed that the Cabinet was working on the best way to tax digital services, and was at that stage already beginning to draft appropriate legislation to block online gambling’s advance (see previous  report).

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