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The Dominican Republic’s Chamber of Deputies approved, in two consecutive readings on 24 July, the bill that would fold the country’s gambling and betting rules into a single law. The chamber changed the wording the Senate had already passed, meaning the bill must go back to the upper house to have those amendments reconciled before it can reach President Luis Abinader for approval
As drafted, the law sets out rules for the authorisation, oversight and supervision of any individual or company that develops, operates or markets betting and gambling activities in the country, whether through physical premises or electronic, telematic or virtual platforms, and extends to businesses that provide technological, logistical or manufacturing support to the industry. Beyond licensing, the bill is meant to tighten tax collection, protect bettors, curb fraud and money laundering, and protect minors.
The legislation is the fusion of two Senate bills: one on games of chance from Pedro Catrain, who chairs the Senate’s Finance Committee, and a companion bill on betting from Félix Bautista, with Catrain’s draft used as the base text. The Senate approved that merged text in first reading in late June and passed it in second reading on 10 July.
It builds on a push that had already been underway since June 2025, when Abinader’s government submitted its own bill proposing a General Directorate of Gambling (DGJA) as a new regulator under the Ministry of Finance. The Senate pursued the Catrain-Bautista route in parallel, and it is that text which has now cleared both chambers in some form.
The most consequential change the Deputies made is a ten-year freeze on new gambling licences. Once the official registry of licensees is published, no new authorisations will be granted for the establishments covered by the bill for a decade, with an exception for casinos located in hotels and tourist destinations, which can keep applying for licences as before.
The bill also tightens where gambling venues can locate. No establishment may open within 500 linear metres of public or private schools, universities, police or military installations, childcare centres, hospitals, clinics or disability care centres, churches, or the seats of the country’s branches of government; sports betting shops, known locally as bancas deportivas, must additionally keep 500 metres between each other.
The bill has faced opposition from parts of the gambling industry. In early July, the Asociación Dominicana de Bancas Deportivas (ADOBAD), which represents more than 90% of sports betting shops, criticised the Senate for failing to consult the sector and warned the proposal threatened jobs while favouring electronic and online gambling. Meanwhile, the Federación Nacional de Bancas de Lotería (FENABANCA) said it supported regulation but urged lawmakers to amend provisions on distance requirements, administrative fees and representation on the new regulator’s governing board.
The scale of what lawmakers are trying to bring under one law is considerable: more than 71,000 bancas were registered nationwide as of early July, according to figures cited during the Senate’s own reading of the bill.
