Peru Prepares to Regulate
Published October 14, 2018 by Lee R
With the bill drafted, Peru is rapidly joining the global iGaming regulation movement.
Peru is making it's move towards a regulation model.
When?
Reports out of the nation of 32 million have online gaming in effect by next month.
Regulation Strategy
The country's legislators have introduced a bill to legalise iGaming according to a quad core strategy of transparency, equitable markets, protection measures for vulnerable groups and the prevention of illegal gambling.
Minimize Involvement
Bill 3397 was actually introduced into legislature last month by Percy Eloy Alcala Mateo of the Fuerza Popular Party. The general consensus is that the bill will encounter minimal opposition in its bureaucratic pathway through Congress to be signed by the President.
Current Environment
At this juncture, the proverbial gray area pervades in Peru, with online gambling neither outlawed nor regulated.
Land-based operations are thriving at present, with 12 land-based casinos thriving in the Andean region.
Guidelines
The bill at this point contains the following provisions:
- a 12% tax on all revenues
- strong regulations to prevent underage gambling
- operator deposits of $166,000 to cover initial payouts to customers before the fact
Further Clarification Required
The bill does not specify if online gambling operators should be linked to land-based operations nor what laws and regulations will stop non-licensed operators offering gambling in Peru.
Opposition
The only opposition seems to be from operators who are concerned about the amount of initial deposit requirements. Commenting upon the proposal, Sportlimba.com general manager Luis Felipe Cornejo stated that “if the bar is set too high, it will hit the formal gambling houses and the informal ones will remain illegal.”
History of Peruvian Efforts
The incoming legislation culminates over a year of effort by Peruvian gambling regulator Direccion General de Juegos de Casino y Maquinas Tragamonedas (DGJCMT), a division of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism. DGJCMT party leader Manuel San Roman first urged Peru’s lawmakers in May 2017, calling for all government regulators to
“make every effort to ensure that this activity [online gambling] is conducted with honesty, transparency and equal conditions for all; especially with proper protection to vulnerable groups of the population and taking care that the activity has full provisions against money-laundering and the financing of terrorism – issues that must be firmly legislated in a sensitive activity such as gambling.”
Outlook
Now, the legislation is following a four-pronged approach consistent with San Roman's original appeal, and in so doing joining a global movement for uniformity in regulation guidelines for iGaming.
