Chile's AGR urges legislators to accelerate online-gambling regulation
Regulation2 min read
Chile's Responsible iGaming Association (AGR) urged legislators to speed up the online-gambling bill, saying it should protect vulnerable groups and set operator requirements. A legal analysis by Estudio Fermandois argued that lawmakers had a constitutional duty to legislate and said Subtel and the casino regulator lacked authority for blocking actions. AGR called for common licensing, identity checks, underage-exclusion and advertising rules for public and private operators.
Chile’s Responsible iGaming Association (AGR) urged legislators to accelerate the online gambling bill to protect vulnerable groups and set requirements for operators. AGR executive director Sandra Kemp said each month without a law left minors and other vulnerable groups without appropriate protection.
A legal analysis by Estudio Fermandois argued that legislators had a constitutional duty to regulate the activity without delay and that their failure to do so was unconstitutional. The analysis also accused state agencies of acting inconsistently.
AGR said the government had expanded its list of blocked sites through a process not provided for in the rules governing telecommunications undersecretariat Subtel’s powers. The association said the state was blocking platforms that had registered to pay digital VAT. Estudio Fermandois said Subtel and casino regulator SCJ lacked legal authority for their actions, affected parties were not heard and the state collected revenue from sites it had ordered blocked.
Estudio Fermandois said the rules governing online activity by state operators such as Polla Chilena and Lotería de Concepción contained no provisions on minors, addiction or advertising. Kemp called for the same licensing, identity verification, exclusion of minors and responsible advertising rules to apply to public and private operators.
AGR said blocking sites did not resolve age verification, user protection, responsible gambling or money laundering prevention. It proposed biometric identity checks against the civil registry, a single state-run national self-exclusion register, a fixed share of revenue set by law for prevention and treatment, and a single advertising standard.