Hola Argentina! Buenos Aires Approves Licencing for 2019
Published December 20, 2018 by Lee R
The Buenos Aires Parliament has overcome anti-gaming concerns and chosen to optimise a new regulation model for the first time.
Argentina has passed gaming legislation for the first time.
New Approval
The word has come down from capital province Buenos Aires that the legislation was approved in the 2019 budget.
The measures provided and specified the path for Buenos Aires to develop regulations for online casino games that are now set to include slots, sports betting, poker and horse race wagers.
Taxation Rates
The GGR tax rate will be 15%, with operators require to establish a a physical presence within the province for license eligibility.
A further 2% administrative fee will be required to province regulatory body Instituto Provincial de Loteria y Casinos.
The Licences
The period of duration for licences will be for up to 15 years, with no further specification available of how many licenses will be used at this point. Media speculation placed initial availability put the number at 7.
The Protections
Social responsibility controls to be placed on operators include providing players with safeguards such as deposit and time limits along with a self-exclusion option.
Penalties for failure to comply will include warnings, fines, licence suspension or revocation.
The Rationale
The key imperative that justifies the entire legislation acceptance and effort is social programming, which will be bolstered in Buenos Aires by an additional 2% tax on player winnings from slot machines.
Next on the Agenda
The new arrangement is set to take effect January 1, 2019. The next step will be formulating the legislation for the timeline of the licencing process.
The Vote
The victorious Parliamentary vote saw those members who were proponents of the potential financial boost of legal online gambling overcome objections from the concerns and objections of the anti-gambling lobby to bring Argentina into the fold of jurisdictions willing to put aside stigmas and begin working on a constructive and protective plan for increasing revenues from gambling to improve the overall economic outlook.
Outlook
A win for iGaming in a jurisdiction as prominent as South America's second largest jurisdiction Argentina represents is a key affirmation of the new global possibilities online technology offers for making gambling activity more user-friendly, safe and socially beneficial in a sector where the activity will take place in some form whether the prevailing government regulates it or not and whether or not it takes place online.
The online environment offers all governments with the opportunity to regulate gaming activity in their jurisdiction, and thus make the gaming that is taking place regardless safer for all.
