Chile’s Senate weighs rival proposals to ban or restrict online gambling

Chile's government has put forward amendments to create a regulated online gambling market, while the Senate also considers rival proposals that would ban private operators or reserve online gambling for the country's two lottery operators. The government's 114-page package was submitted on Monday 26 October, according to the report. The Senate's Economy Committee will consider the proposals.

Under President José Antonio Kast, the administration has set out a framework granting private companies licences lasting five years. That framework comes with restrictions on advertising, additional taxes and safeguards for players. As reported by Diario Financiero, companies would pay an annual fee of 1,000 monthly tax units, worth roughly $77,000 at present, plus a 3% gambling levy charged on top of VAT. Promotional bonuses and online gambling advertising would be prohibited. Any operator that ran in Chile during the past year without holding a licence could only apply by reaching a transitional agreement with the authorities.

Senators Diego Ibáñez and Gastón Saavedra put forward the first alternative, which would outlaw private operators altogether. Businesses already on Chile's tax authority register would be given as long as 24 months to close down. A second text, from senator Paulina Núñez, would give the online gambling market exclusively to Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Lotería de Concepción. Neither lottery operator could add gambling products beyond those it already provides. That proposal also carries criminal sanctions for illegal operators and measures to block websites permanently.

Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz was asked by the Economy Committee to present the government's plans during a session held on 27 October. The trade association Agrupación de iGaming Responsable (AGR) issued a statement the same day welcoming the proposals, while cautioning that barring advertising and promotional bonuses might push players to unlicensed operators. The association said: "A modern regulatory framework must not confuse protection with prohibition." It added: "Advertising should be regulated, not eliminated."

The senators' proposals follow Brazil's outright ban in September and similar proposals under consideration in Buenos Aires Province in Argentina, according to the report. Last month, AGR president Sandra Kemp urged authorities to progress the bill, which was first introduced in 2022. "The current legal vacuum creates risks and harm for minors, adult users, the state and platforms that are unable to operate and compete on equal terms in Chile," she said. "Failing to legislate is the worst of all the available options."

Telecommunications regulator Subtel directed internet providers in September to block 42 gambling websites, acting on court rulings in the country. At the same time, and seemingly at odds with that move, 39 offshore betting sites signed up with Chile's tax authorities. They did so under a wider law obliging foreign digital platforms to pay 19% VAT on transactions made in the country. Kemp told NEXT.io in September: "Ultimately, the state is applying a patch when we need a law."