PAGCOR invites offshore gambling license applications

After a tumultuous month in which the Philippines State-owned regulator declined to renew PhilWeb Corp’s technology contract and the ensuing shut down of over 480 egames and ebingo outlets (see previous reports), PAGCOR has invited letters of intent for the application of offshore gaming licenses to shore up lost revenue and curtail illegal operators.

Key points in the application for licensing include:

– Philippine-based or offshore operators may apply for annual licensing but Filipino’s and any players under the age of 21 are banned from play. Operators are required to ensure prevention safeguards are in place.

– Licensed operators will be referred to as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and are required to engage the services of a PAGCOR-accredited service/support provider for online gaming activity.

– An online casino license application and processing fees will be $50,000, and sports betting $40,000.

– Approval and annual license awards will cost $200,000 for online casino and $150,000 for online sports betting.

– PAGCOR will form a monitoring task force called “Task Force POGO” who will survey and monitor licensed operators.

– e-Casino games covered by the Offshore license comprise RNG-based or live dealer games which include table games, slots, card, wheel and dice games, skill and arcade-type games.

– A fixed gaming tax for the initial six-month period of implementation will be levied as follows: $10,000/month/table for live studio setup, $100/month/per player for RNG-based games and $40,000/month for sports betting.

“Pagcor is strongly committed to carrying out its mandate, that of strictly monitoring and regulating all games of chance in the country that fall within the ambit of its charter,” PAGCOR said.

More information at: http://www.pagcor.ph/regulatory/offshore-gaming.php