SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Bill 035/2022 has been approved by the Economic Commission of Chile’s Chamber of Deputies, making progress on the regulation of an online gambling framework for the country.
Initially drafted in March 2022 by the Ministry of Finance, the legislation had been referred to the Economic Commission for an inspection of its tax framework to address concerns by policy stakeholders.
This week, the Bill received its approval from the Economic Commission as members voted nine versus three in favour of its passage “to continue the negotiation to regulate online gambling” as desired by Chile’s government.
The Commission’s approval sees the Ministry of Finance maintain its schedule to launch a liberalised online gambling regime by the end of 2023. The development points towards overhauling Chile’s domestic marketplace, where online wagering is restricted to three businesses: Loteria Concepción, Polla Chilena (football pools) and Teletrak Chile (pari-mutuel horse racing).
Having been approved, the Bill will undertake further policy treatment by the Ministry of Finance within a set timeframe of Monday, 12 June.
Under review by the Economic Commission, the Bill received positive testimonies from the National Consumer Service (SERNAC) and the Commission for the Financial Market (CMF). The policy stakeholders agreed on its remit to boost the Chilean government’s tax-generating capacities.
Meanwhile, an estimate from the Superintendency of Gambling Casinos (SCJ) detailed that Chile’s current annual market value of $130m-to-$170m would “double in five years with an explicit legal framework for online gambling”.
In support of Bill’s passage, the SCJ provided an estimate of annual tax revenue of $50m to be allocated to public services, in which the agency will serve as the new licensing and market monitoring authority for online gambling.
Market safeguards will require Chilean consumers to register their unique national ID with licensed operators to create “one account per available platform” to “ensure the account holder’s identity and reduce the risk of participation by minors or self-excluded individuals.”
On licensing, the Ministry of Finance has outlined its preference to establish a “non-competitive administrative procedure, modelled after the progressive Colombian market.”
The Ministry proposed that foreign and domestic operators could apply for a fixed five-year licence, priced at a ‘Chilean Unit Amount‘ of 1000 UTMs or 100 UTMs per six months.
As it stands, the Bill cites that advertising will be restricted to licensed betting platforms. However, in corresponding affairs, Chile’s Senate is currently reviewing a separate bill that seeks to ban commercial agreements between sports clubs and bookmakers – deemed an integrity requirement by its sponsors.
