Coljuegos, the Colombian gambling regulator, has cracked down on 10,000 websites and social media profiles that were delivering illegal betting services without having a local license and not paying the yearly license fee.
“The highest number of blocked portals in the history of our entity,” as claimed by Marco Emilio Hincapié, Coljuegos president.
That must’ve been a bummer for some bettors, but safety first, guys.
According to some stats, only 16 sites are licensed and offer legal online betting services in Colombia. Over 2024, those companies supposedly paid around $104.5 m in license fees. All that money was transferred to Colombia’s health system. That’s a generous act; hope it’s as true as it sounds.
Back to blocked sites. Those are online casinos, bingo halls, and sports betting sites that operate illegally.
Coljuegos conducted over 30 administrative sanctioning processes against companies and influencers supporting illegal betting in Colombia. In addition, the national police’s cyber center and tech giant Meta were also asked to provide help. That’s how they tried to block another 289 profiles advertising illegal gambling services for unlicensed betting operators.
Marco Emilio Hincapié stated: “During our administration, we have managed to decisively attack illegal operators who, through fraudulent sites, operate games of chance and luck without the respective authorization.”
In addition to all this, the government reintroduced new proposals regarding the value-added tax of 19% for online betting. It isn’t clear yet whether those 19% will be applied to deposits or payouts.
The tax has the status of a temporary emergency for an initial 90-day period.
By the way, the tax would’ve been granted permanent implementation if it weren’t for the Colombian Association of Gaming Operators, who saw it as having devastating consequences. On the industry, of course. According to them, this tax would’ve supposedly made players and operators go into the black market, looking for alternatives.
All in all, blocking those illegal sites and social media profiles, which are not a few, to be honest, is meant to help the government protect Colombia’s health system.
Will their entity have success in combating illegal gambling or will people really be drawn to black market alternatives?
Or, maybe, this will make gambling operators turn to the legal size and run under a license in Colombia. For instance, Betano has recently secured authorization and entered the game of licensed online operators in Colombia.
After all, illegal operators who run shady sites and games of chance without a license have no place in Colombia, and the country’s gambling regulator made it clear.
“Via the entity, we are complying with the instructions of President Gustavo Petro: to attack illegality in the industry and protect resources for the health of Colombians, “ said Hincapié.
It seems their gambling regulation institution is doing its best to keep the bad guys at bay. At least, those 10,000 blocked websites have to tell you something.
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