Colombia Introduces New Responsible Gambling Rules for Online Lottery and Chance Operators

Consejo Nacional de Juegos de Suerte y Azar (CNJSA) has approved a new agreement requiring operators who sell products using the internet to have responsible gambling practices in Colombia.

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The agreement will apply to operators selling Lottery, Permanent Bets, or Chance, and RASPA&LISTO products. It is regulated under the Law 643 of 2001 and Decree Law 4144 of 2011.

According to the agreement, its main aim is to “promote a culture of responsible gambling based on prevention, self-care, and assistance to affected persons.” It was adopted on April 23, 2026, and included many recommendations proposed by the council members during the evaluation of the draft.

Self-Diagnosis and Self-Exclusion Mechanisms

In the first place, one of the most significant changes introduced by the new regulation is the possibility of using the online test to assess the degree of risk of problematic gambling.

At the same time, the agreement specifies that self-exclusion mechanisms should remain voluntary, personal, and specific to the operator where the application is sent; hence, the limitation will not automatically cover all gambling companies operating in the country.

In addition, operators are obligated to provide self-exclusion forms easily accessible on their websites and in retail stores. The list of self-excluded users and revocation requests should also be stored by the operators.

According to the new rule, the minimum term of self-exclusion should be 30 days, which will be chosen by the gambler. In case the gambler does not send the revocation request within this period, the limitation will automatically extend by 30 days again.

In the course of self-exclusion, the gambler must not be allowed access to purchase and gambling transactions through the company’s technology platform.

Operators Need to Adopt Comprehensive Responsible Gambling Policies

In accordance with the agreement, all companies selling gambling products via the Internet should create a comprehensive Responsible Gambling Policy aimed at three target populations:

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• Players without risk factors
• Players with risk factors or self-excluded
• Non-gamblers.

The policy should include general information about the company, its aims, an annual schedule of actions, staff education plan, self-control techniques, signs of danger, process schemes, compliance indicators, and directories of mental health organizations and foundations.

A representative with relevant qualifications and experience should be appointed to develop and implement the responsible gambling policy. Such a person should send the semiannual report to the operator’s board of directors containing the information about the state of implementation of the program, its progress, and its effect in quantitative terms, particularly the number of self-excluded players.

Increased Measures to Protect Minors

The agreement strengthens existing laws regulating gambling products in order to protect minors.

Thus, the company should warn in advertising materials about the prohibition of gambling participation by children and teenagers. Advertisements should not target underage audiences.

In addition, it should reinforce the effectiveness of preventive advertising campaigns and assign responsibility to lottery boards of directors for introducing new gambling policies.

Compliance Requirements

All operators need to send the implementation and effectiveness reports of the responsible gambling program to the management of the Technical Secretariat of the CNJSA within 15 days after the end of each semester.

The Technical Secretariat will have the right to conduct audits, request information, and take other actions necessary to ensure compliance with the agreement. Also, each year, a report on the implementation and impact of the program should be delivered to the CNJSA by April.

The processing of player personal data should comply with the requirements of Colombian data protection legislation, provided in Law 1581 of 2012 and Decree 1074 of 2015. The agreement comes into effect after its publication in the Official Gazette of Colombia.

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Source: SBC Noticias