Chile Advances Online Betting Regulation Through New Technical Working Group

Recent negotiations between the Ministry of Finance and the Economy Committee of the Senate resulted in the proposal to create a technical working group to progress with the gambling legislation in Chile.

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The plan was developed following talks between the President of the Economy Committee, Senator Gastón Saavedra, and the country’s Finance Minister, Jorge Quiroz. According to the senator, the working group will involve experts from the Senate and the Ministry of Finance, who will consider proposed amendments and solve the remaining problems of the bill.

“He proposed setting up a technical working group to solve the changes that we are proposing and those that the government will introduce. It is worth noting that the bill came from the previous administration. The purpose of creating this group is between our advisers and the advisers from the Ministry, and then setting a new deadline for presenting amendments,” said Saavedra.

Tax Resolution Leads to Legislative Reconsideration

The legislative process followed shortly after the decision of Chile’s Internal Revenue Service (SII), which created the opportunity for foreign operators of online betting, casino, and gaming to register and pay taxes according to the services they provide to local clients.

The process has led to a revival of political debate, as there is currently no regulatory framework for online betting platforms in Chile. In one of the sessions of the Economy Committee, senators considered the possibility of taxing the operators of the online betting services despite the absence of regulation of their operation.

Saavedra expressed his concerns about the conflict between the taxes and the lack of legality of operators of online betting services. The senator also raised questions concerning the effectiveness of the control over the international operators and the monitoring of the sources of the funds involved in transactions via online betting platforms.

Authorities Raising Concerns Regarding Consumer Protection

In addition, the Superintendent of Gaming Casinos, Eduardo Cáceres, stated that Chilean law allows the conduct of gambling activities only in licensed land-based casinos. Online gambling is not included in the existing legal framework at the moment.

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Cáceres informed that in 2018, the Superintendence of Gaming Casinos made 123 complaints to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which relate mainly to the issues connected to online betting services. The reported complaints were associated with difficulty in collecting winnings, irregularities in gaming operations, and minors’ access to gambling services.

The regulator highlighted the problem of consumer protection in the context of the operation of the sector in the absence of any regulatory framework.

Committee Members Requesting Additional Information

Following the discussion, the committee members decided to ask for additional information from several state institutions during the analysis of the sector.

Lawmakers decided to receive information from the Public Prosecutor’s Office on the current status of complaints that were previously submitted to the institution by the regulator. Also, the committee will receive information from the National Sports Institute (IND) regarding sports organizations sponsored by the betting operators and from the National Television Council (CNTV) regarding the broadcasting and advertising of bets.

The formation of the technical working group marks the start of the efforts of the Chilean regulators to progress with the regulatory project. At the moment, there is no time schedule for its adoption.

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Source: SBC Noticias