Striving for Economic Solutions, Columbia Introduces iGaming
Published October 26, 2020 by Lee R
In a jurisdiction whose land-based tax revenues have been shuttered by Covid, iGaming is offered in limited form.
Struggling Columbia is looking into adapting an iGaming model to harness the added revenues.
First Offerings
The relief sought online comes in the form of online scratchcard and bingo games, a modest start of the Columbia foray into iGaming as published as a national regulation measure.
The Measures
News domain iGamingBusiness.com reports that the Coljuegos authority edict comes on the heels of June ratification of online participation in those specific verticals as permissible entertainment until the end of next year. Legislators reportedly took this step to stimulate gaming activities and add tax revenues in the wake of the pandemic.
Columbia's Struggle with Covid
As a member of the Worldometer Top 10, Columbia's struggles have become highly visible to the world: at this juncture the nation of over 50 million inhabitants has closed its entire array of land-based gaming outlets since March as a direct result of the struggle.
Current Land-Based Sources
Of late, only a select few venues in the city of Medellin having re-opened in reaction to industry criticism and a 17.000 strong signed petition to provide the country with any tax revenue from gaming.
Requirements
The new Coljuegos rules call for bingo games to be offered online to Colombia players as long as the players use bespoke cards pre-purchased from clubs or retail outlets located within the same province as the draw site.
The Video Component
A further requirement of the new legislation is a transparent video feed for any contest continually showing the mechanical ball blower and game board, with exceptions for competitions using electronic random number generator for winning number selection.
Bingo Responsibilities
Bingo operators offering contests online will be required to “take measures to restore the game to its last known state” when video streams are interrupted, or offer complete refunds if this is not possible.
Unique Taxation
These new forms of online entertainment would be exempted from Columbia's existing gaming duties and taxes, while compelling operators to return 58% of any stakes and pay a 12% turnover tax.
Outlook
The friendlier levy on the new iGaming offerings should pave the way for Columbia to expand its iGaming offerings and see tangible revenue gains to address the economic downturns that require urgent out-of-the-box solutions.
