Chile Senate committee approves online betting ban proposals
Regulation3 min read
Chile’s Senate Economic Commission approved proposals on 9 November 2026 to prohibit online betting companies, by three votes to one with one abstention. The proposals compete with the government’s licensing plan, while a separate bill in the lower house would allow authorised casinos to offer online games.
Chile’s Senate Economic Commission approved proposals to prohibit online betting companies on 9 November 2026, by three votes to one with one abstention. The committee approved two parliamentary proposals, but its decision does not make the prohibition law.
Senate president Paulina Núñez’s proposal includes prison sentences of up to 15 years, permanent court-ordered blocks on illegal platforms and increased sanctions when criminal organisations are involved. A proposal backed by senators Gastón Saavedra and Diego Ibáñez would prohibit the operation, administration, offering and advertising of online betting companies. It would impose prison sentences and fines on those who benefit financially from the operations, as well as blocking sites and payment methods.
The proposals conflict with the government’s plan for a licensing system. Treasury undersecretary Sebastián Vallebona defended the government’s proposal before the commission, while senator Matías Walker questioned the prohibitions and supported regulation as a way to formalise the market, according to Radio Bío-Bío.
In late October 2026, the government submitted proposals with a licensing system, a total advertising ban and an effective rate of 22%. They would also prohibit bonuses, promotional offers and other financial incentives intended to attract users.
The proposals provide for a six-month transitional licence for platforms to regularise their operations. Platforms would have to pay 3,000 UTM and settle or agree to pay VAT owed on digital services for the previous 36 months. Once regularised, they would receive a five-year definitive licence. Authorised platforms would have to establish themselves legally in Chile, disclose the origin of their funds and identify their shareholders and ultimate beneficiaries. They would also have to report suspicious transactions to the Financial Analysis Unit.
The tax proposals include an effective rate of 22%, comprising VAT and a 3% specific tax, as well as a 1% contribution for responsible gambling. They would create a fund for gambling addiction prevention and treatment. The government estimates that the measures would raise more than US$100m in the first year and US$133m in the fifth. Player protection measures include identity checks, an exclusion register, preventive gambling limits and platform access controls.
A separate lower-house bill from deputies Sergio Bobadilla, Eduardo Cretton and Cristóbal Martínez would allow casinos to offer their permitted games online. Digital authorisation would be attached to the physical casino’s permit and supervised by the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego. Each operator could use one platform, with one brand and a domain ending in .cl. Polla Chilena, Lotería de Concepción and racecourses could offer online only the games they are already authorised to provide. For unauthorised offerings, the bill provides for prison terms of 541 days to five years, fines of 100 to 1,000 UTM and judicial blocking of sites, applications and transactions.
Speaking to Focus Gaming News, Cecilia Valdés, executive president of casino association ACCJ, questioned whether the transitional regime should admit platforms that had operated without authorisation. She called for the prohibition on casinos offering online gambling to be lifted.
The main online betting bill entered Congress in March 2022 and passed the lower house in December 2023. The Senate approved it in general on 13 August 2025 by 27 votes to three, with five abstentions, before returning it to committee for detailed consideration. On 30 September 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that several unauthorised online betting platforms were illegal and ordered telecommunications companies to block 12 sites. Several platforms continued operating under new domains.
The prohibition proposals will be combined at the Senate Economic Commission’s next session. The casino bill is in its first constitutional stage before the lower house’s Interior Government Commission and will then go to its Economic Commission.