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Colombian senator Gustavo Moreno said he was preparing legislation to strengthen controls on online gambling, including digital identity verification and limits on deposits and losses.
Speaking to 6AM Hoy por Hoy on Caracol Radio, Moreno said the proposal would establish a stricter legal framework for betting platforms and protect young people from gambling-related harm.
The senator said stronger digital identity checks could prevent minors from using other people’s personal information to open accounts and access betting services. His proposal would also establish daily and monthly limits on the amount customers could deposit and lose.
Moreno said Colombia had around eight million active online betting accounts and that approximately COP4.6tn had been wagered through internet games between January and March 2025. He added that about 67% of bettors were aged between 18 and 29 and gambled once a week.
The senator also cited approximately 245,000 self-exclusion requests as evidence of the need for stronger safeguards. Coljuegos separately reported that 245,199 people requested exclusion from online gambling platforms during 2024 and 2025.
Moreno argued that online betting had become a public-health and family-finance issue requiring greater state intervention. His initiative would add to Colombia’s existing regulated online gambling framework rather than establish a new market.
Fecoljuegos president Evert Montero said licensed operators already apply controls that include identity-document checks, age restrictions, biometric verification and self-exclusion mechanisms. He argued that enforcement should focus principally on unauthorised operators.
“The problem is not gambling; the problem is the inability to control illegal gambling,” Montero said.
He said illegal platforms could reappear under different website addresses within minutes of being blocked, reducing the effectiveness of enforcement efforts. Montero also warned against introducing requirements that could disadvantage licensed operators and drive customers towards unregulated alternatives.
“Sometimes overregulation also creates friction and generates illegality,” he said.
Montero has previously argued that illegal operators do not pay taxes, transfer funds to the health system or apply the consumer-protection and responsible gambling standards required of licensed companies.
In August, Coljuegos reported issuing 58,916 blocking orders against websites and social-media profiles operating or promoting unauthorised gambling.
Moreno has said he is working on the proposal, but a bill number and full legislative text have not yet been published.
