The government of Uruguay is pondering the possibility of introducing a new legal framework that would prevent internationally licensed iGaming operators from targeting local players, local news outlet El Observador has reported.
Pablo Ferreri, Uruguay’s Undersecretary of Economy, explained that although most forms of online gambling are prohibited in the country, there are no actual controls that hamper casino players and sport bettors from accessing gambling websites.
The official pointed out that the government may introduce new rules that would block unauthorized operators from luring Uruguayan customers.
With very few exceptions, gambling services in Uruguay are conducted by a state-run monopoly and its subsidiaries. Different lawmakers have tried to introduce over the past several years a more liberal approach towards the provision of this type of services in the country, but their efforts have not gained much support.
The most recent such push was made in the spring of 2016, when significant changes to Uruguay’s existing gambling laws were introduced in the Chamber of Deputies. However, it did not see much progress in the country’s legislature.
Earlier this year, the Uruguayan Casino Control Board revealed that wagers placed at local casinos grew 6.5% to U$6.15 billion (approximately $216 million) in 2016. There was also an increase in the amounts gambled on Lottery, Supermatch, Tómbola, and related products. Wagers on those totaled U$10.8 billion (approximately $379.2 million) last year, up U$281 million from 2015.
The announcement about Uruguay considering the implementation of a new gambling framework comes less than a month after another South American country officially opened its market for licensed online gambling operations. Coljuegos, the Colombian gambling regulator, issued the first iGaming license on June 30 to local operator Aquila Global Group and its Wplay sports betting website. The country regulated its market last fall when the government officially adopted revised gambling laws.
Earlier this month, Coljuegos began blocking the IPs of operators still targeting local players, despite lacking the necessary authorization to do so. The regulatory body presented a blacklist of more than 300 operators earlier in 2017 and the first batch of these has already been banished from Colombia.
To spare itself unnecessary troubles, PokerStars left the local market voluntarily shortly after the crackdown on illegal operators began. The online poker room has been trying to abide by the laws of regulated jurisdictions after it had been part of a high-profile case that saw the US Department of Justice prosecute several iGaming companies for illegally operating in the US.
