Senator Felipe Carballo from the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) has put forward an online gambling bill that seeks to regulate online gambling through a system where both the state and private entities operate under state supervision in Uruguay.
The initiative proposes the creation of a State Online Gaming Platform, under the National Directorate of Lotteries and Betting, which would offer, regulate, and monitor digital games. The Senator first put forward the draft law to his party’s caucus in November.
The project outlines the formation of a National Online Gaming Regulatory Agency, with the autonomy to issue licenses, audit platforms and algorithms, control transactions, manage a National Registry of Digital Gamblers, and penalize violations.
If approved, online users would be required to register with personalized spending limits and financial traceability. Furthermore, operating without a license would become a crime.
“For us, this is a central issue. There have been other initiatives in previous periods, including one presented by the Broad Front caucus in the Senate during the last term, as well as by the previous Executive Branch, and none of them succeeded,” Carballo told local newspaper El Telgrafo.
According to the senator proposals to regulate online gambling have failed because of powerful interests in the gambling sector which have resisted change. Online gambling, accessible to anyone with a phone, internet, and a card, is expanding daily he pointed out while new operators enter the market via the internet.
“We understand that regulation and controls need to be strengthened, but we maintain that this must be done by the State. Concession holders should be contributing for the use of this (online) space, and that isn’t happening because the National Directorate of Lotteries and Betting is the only one making the contribution.”
According to Carballo, “the State should have its own platform, advance in controls and create a registry of bettors to prevent minors from entering the betting industry.”
The National Directorate of Lotteries and Betting “blocks more than 150 new illegal websites of international scope every day. We are talking about a business that generates a lot of money and involves many vested interests. The Uruguayan State, which owns all the games, should receive a significant financial contribution that would allow us, in addition to addressing the problem of gambling addiction, to allocate funds to other social programs.”
The senator stated that “new legislation must be drafted to replace the current law, which dates back to the 19th century, and we intend for this issue to be discussed at the parliamentary level in 2026. Our project is merely a starting point for improving its wording, but Uruguay must have a new discussion about online gambling and legislate to improve controls and incorporate resources into the state coffers.”
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Senator Felipe Carballo from the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) has put forward an online gambling bill that seeks to regulate online gambling through a system where both the state and private entities operate under state supervision in Uruguay. The initiative proposes the creation of a State Online Gaming Platform, under the National Directorate of Lotteries and Betting, which…
The post Senator puts forward online gambling bill in Uruguay appeared first on G3 Newswire.